Where the Blame Lies

I promised my brother I would do my best to go out and vote yesterday. I remembered that promise at about 6:30 last night and just barely got to the polls before they closed. This morning I stumbled from my bed and turned on the news to find that the Democrats had won control of the house and that the Senate is currently still up in the air. I have listened to the news this morning and I have read an article on MSN and I have some things I need to say about how politics are done in this country.

First of all, I am told by the media that the American people have sent a strong message to the Republicans and the President with this election. The problem is, I'm not sure what that strong message is. The same people that report to me that the President has received a dashing blow also tell me that the Republican candidate for Senate in my district was underfunded and did not have the name recognition of our Democratic incumbent. Brace yourself, I almost voted for that incumbent. I'll tell you why. I looked at his track record. He's a Democrat, but he's consistently voted against things like Partial Birth Abortion, Stem Cell Research, Gay Marriage, etc. This guy is from the same town where I work. He's from a really good family. But, I didn't vote for him, because he's a Democrat. I wonder how many people did vote for him just because he's a nice guy. How many other candidates fall into the same category?

And maybe, I should have voted for him--because he's a nice guy. That's the real reason I voted for President Bush. It helped him that he was a Republican, yes. But I really believe with all my heart that President Bush is a good man. I don't agree with everything he does, but I believe that he prays for our nation and for how to lead it. I believe that counts for alot.

What's really a shame is that it's come to this--this idea that a person equals a political party. That's the reason I didn't vote for our incumbent. Because, I'm afraid that he will hold to party lines and that the things that are important to me will be trampled upon. I shouldn't have to be afraid that a good man will abandon his beliefs just because he is a member of the Democratic Party.

But the problem is, majority rule is how we elect people. And the man that clings to his ideals and morals is often not the popular man. In fact, what people really want is someone they feel will be swayed in their direction. The problem is there are too many directions.

All the media talked about for the last two weeks was how the Democrats were going to win it all. Excuse me, I said that wrong. All the media has talked about for the last two weeks was how the Republicans were going to lose it all. I guess they got what they wanted. But it seems to me to be an exaggeration that the public has sent such a strong message of disaproval when the Senate is still undecided.

Perhaps that's what irks me the most about this whole deal--we are fed gross exaggerations, half-truths and outright lies every day by our media. We are told how horrible the war in Iraq is on a daily basis--not focusing on how bravely our troops face this enemy, nor how much they need our support--but constantly how we shouldn't be there. We have been told that the President is not going to change his course of action even though that's what people seem to want. What people? It's not me that wants him to change. We were told that the President was campaigning around the country and that many candidates were trying to distance themselves from him. Why? Because everyone knows that the President is bad--or worse, a fool. We were told that the Mark Foley scandal decided this election. We are constantly told that Democrats are good and Republicans are bad. And I guess this election has shown that we believe what we are told.

Four legs good . . . two legs bad.