Look, I know my biases. We’ve all got them. And there are times I’ve certainly gone against the grain. I did work the phones for McCain in the 2000 primaries and would have (at the time) voted for him over Gore in a general election. I did support the candidacy of Webb over the more generic liberal candidate here in VA - and not just for reasons of “electability”. I genuinely think he’s a smart and righteous dude. I was the first moderate-left type here on the boards to agree there was something fishy about the documents CBS used in the National Guard story. I pointed out what a ridiculous mouthpiece Cindy Sheehan was becoming for far left outfits.
When I say I’m starting to feel that I can’t trust anything that comes out of most Republicans mouths I mean just that. There are some like Specter and Hagel and, though I don’t always agree with him, our own Sen. Warner that I do think are honest and well-intentioned. And just because there’s a little ® next to someone’s name I didn’t always assume the worst nor do I assume the best about those (D)s. In fact, I’m pretty unimpressed with most of them.
But they didn’t get us into Iraq. They didn’t cut taxes at the same time as trying to respond to a real threat of terrorism - thus putting us in massive debt to China of all places. They weren’t supervising the Federal Government when Katrina went down. They didn’t have anything as vile and grandiose as the DeLay-Abramoff “K Street” project going. They don’t cowtow to religious fundamentalists who believe Jesus is coming in a few weeks so screw everything else and let’s help the apocalypse along. They haven’t launched on a systematic attempt to discredit the duty of the Fourth Estate or to thrust pure science into doubt as a touchstone for understanding our world and formulating policy.
And the Democrats do have a history since the civil rights era of being on the right side, as I see it, of personal freedom, equality and privacy issues.
This current crop of Democrats doesn’t impress me much. Feingold, I like. Obama’s impressive but untested. But most are just so confused, aimless, and indecisive I’ve got no use for them. But at least they aren’t Republicans.
Yes, they should get their act together. And, yes, I can’t blame reasonable folks for looking at that mess and thinking “why should I vote for these clowns?” But I can blame folks for looking at the Republicans, given their track record, and saying “well, these guys may be corrupt, incompetant, dishonest and beholden to some ugly ideologies but at least they sound like they know what they’re doing.”
This is really a lesser of two evils moment. And, yes, I do come into the discussion with my own baggage and perspective. I’m may not always be right about everything though, I believe, my track record here is better than most so I tend to trust my instincts.
And right now I see the side that wants to wreck most of those things I find most precious about the American experiment to be the greater evil.