You Spin Me Round Round, Baby

I can't believe Kerry won! Who voted for him and why? I don't usually write about politics, though I always have a deep interest in it. I guess it?s because I always feel like I don?t have enough information. It?s not that I?m UNinformed or MISinformed, I?m just NOTENOUGHinformed, I guess. I have been paying attention to the Democratic race though, since I am a Democrat and like to take who I vote for seriously. I find myself shifting around though. Since I?ve only been back in the U.S. for a couple months, naturally, Dean was the first one to catch my attention. Then I watched two of the Democratic debates, and found that Gephardt and Edwards caught my attention. But the more I listened to Gephardt, the less I was interested in him. It?s funny though, when he got creamed last night at the Iowa caucus, I actually felt bad about it. REALLY bad. I can?t exactly explain why. I guess if it was up to me, people like Kerry, Dean, and Lieberman would be tossed out much sooner than Gephardt. And how about that Kucinich? He was an interesting guy! Too bad he doesn?t have a chance. There?s no chance for any strong opinions. Strong delivery? Sure. Strong ideals? Forget it. As George Bush Sr. advised George Bush Jr. on the satiric sketch on SNL, ?Slide to the middle, slide to the middle.?

There seems to be this strong dislike in America now for anyone who?s an ?old school? or ?insider? politician. Politicians make gallant claims distancing themselves from D.C., trying to claim that they?re just normal folk, aw shucks. I find this a bit strange myself. Sure, we all like the idea of ?new blood? in the political process ? hoping it will breathe new life into an already sluggish and apathetic political system, but when the older I get also, the more I want someone who knows what the fuck they?re doing. If it were ANY other profession on earth (I?m trying to think of exceptions) you would want someone with experience, contacts, savvy, and simple know-how. You wouldn?t call up a lawyer, plumber, or doctor who didn?t know what the hell s/he was doing ? someone who wanted to distance themselves from the traditional methods (with the possible exception of being into holistic/Chinese medicine, etc.). After recently leaving a job where it took me forever just to figure out how the damn system worked (and it was a helluva lot more complicated than I had ever imagined), I wonder what it would be like for a politician just entering that arena for the first time. To be fair, there is the part of me that thinks there COULD be possibilities. I often wondered back in Thailand if I hadn?t been so keen on following the culture, being respectful to the right people, knowing what I knew, if I could have just plowed ahead like a blind bull and made some more dramatic changes than I did. But I also know that in reality, it would have worked in the short-term, but that in the long-term, the powers that be (and under me) would have conspired to get such a loose cannon out of there, no matter how positive my innovations. What is the result then? Do we just keep in the old dinosaurs and hope they s/he is somehow different, despite his/her years of experience. We pray that the candidate will actually DO what was promised (how many of us actually believe that?).

I still hold a great deal of respect for Senator Russ Feingold of Wisconsin, simply because he seems to have really strong ideals and follows them. Feingold has been the single voice of protest in the Senate -- like after 9-11 when he feared that civil liberties might be rashly threatened in the chaos after the tragedy. After the dust settled, and everyone blinked, they realized that he had been the voice of reason, which is a brave thing to be with George W. Bush playing John Wayne on the tv screen.

Now, I know this isn?t always easy for Feingold or his own employees (as they pick through other offices? discarded office furniture in hopes of something ?new? or have less time off than other offices) to be so ?honest. Feingold GIVES BACK money to the government every year and won?t even accept a pencil from a constituent. The result for Feingold? He just barely won his last election, mostly because he followed his own campaign finance reform ideals and didn?t accept all that soft money, etc. etc. Bumper stickers that were practically dropped from crop dusters in the previous election were suddenly cautiously handed out (for $1). People were asked to re-use their old Feingold lawn signs if they had ?em. Commericals were fewer and farther between. In a time when money has a lot to do with how far a campaign can go, that?s tough. He made it though. And he?s facing re-election this coming November. I wish I could still vote in Wisconsin. I?d vote for him in a heartbeat.

Oh geez, I got way off on a Feingold tangent. I?m going to spend the day reading various Demo?s websites and try to get a handle on what EACH one really stands for (I?ve already started and it?s rather difficult. Spin spin spin!). Maybe I can form a more educated opinion by the end of the day. As of now, I?m going for Edwards. We?ll see.