For as long as I can remember, I have been interested in and fascinated by the political process. Not so much as to be involved as a candidate for any office, I’ve never felt that to be my particular calling, but the following of and analysis of political events is another story.
I’ve never declared an allegiance to one party or another, preferring to take my political leanings on a case by case basis, weighing opinions on issues and candidates one at a time, instance by instance, election by election, and event by event. For more than twenty years now, I’ve labeled myself as an independent.
The last few years, and most particularly this election, have given me cause to rethink my standing as a die hard independent. I’ve watched the local state wide campaigning (Tennessee) between Harold Ford Jr. and Bob Corker in their race for the senate seat being vacated by Bill Frist, have dug into the records to see what the truth is of voting records and political activities of both candidates, and I have to say this; the more I hear Ford open his mouth to sling mud at Corker, the more disgusting and appalling I find the man to be. I could go into details on everything that’s been said by both sides, but as I know that this race is being closely followed by the nation as well as those of us here IN the state of Tennessee; I hardly see the point this late in the game. I will admit that early on I was considering lending my vote to Ford. Then I started reading into the records to see for myself exactly what kind of voting he had done. Needless to say, I was less than pleased, especially when he recently showed how knowledgeable he is in regards to world affairs by claiming that Argentina, Australia and South Africa were part of the rogue nations that we had to worry about getting their hands on nuclear weapons. And THEY wanted to make fun of Dan Quail. Australia? What are they going to do, launch an unprecedented attack on the world by using nukes hidden in the pouches of kangaroos? GIVE me a BREAK.
Then there was the statement by Hillary Clinton that has come back to light about the “common good” which comes straight from socialist/communist mindsets regarding ending the tax cuts put into place by the Bush administration. Add to that John Kerry and his tasteless comment regarding the military in an address this week, and it shows one thing to me, clearly. The Democratic Party has become what it has been accused of being for so long: a party of elitist socialists who want power and thumb their noses as the electorate who puts them into office. It is small wonder, in my mind, that the south, once solidly in the control of the Democrats, has begun to shift their allegiance to the Republicans. The Democrats have shown in recent years that they know better than the voters what should be done in matters of local, state, national, and international affairs, voting against issues that the public supports, speaking out against policies and decisions that WOULD be in the true interest of the “common good” in favor of things that would be in favor of the DEMOCRATIC PARTY good. If you don’t believe me, look at the voting records of your congressmen and senators for themselves. Sit in on your local city counsel or county commission meetings. See which candidates are doing what their constituents want and which ones are following special interests. Now, I will say, at the local levels, it’s a much harder thing to break down, especially in areas that are more traditionally “yellow dog democrat.” Laura Ingram is on the record as saying that the only way a Democrat can be elected in the south today is to paint himself as a moderate or a conservative. As I watch the Corker/Ford campaigns, I can’t help but think to myself how true these words are. Ford is trying desperately to portray himself as at least a moderate, when his record shows clearly that he is anything but.
These are just a handful of things that have prompted my thinking and my actions. I voted a split ticket in early voting because I do believe that the candidate should be considered above the party, but as I prepared to submit my ballot, in reviewing it one last time, I noticed that there were a great many more R’s next to the candidate’s names that I had voted for than D’s. It gave me pause for a moment, and I have spent the days between then and now contemplating this heavily and following news coverage of the races as well as doing more digging into other races around the country. And so, after years of thoughtful following and consideration, as I finally make a declaration of party to the Republicans, I close with a quote by Sir Winston Churchill that gives much thought for us as a nation still today: “You can always count on Americans to do the right thing - after they've tried everything else.”
