Vote the Party Person

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There’s one thing Democrats have to be aware of more so now than in the past elections, and that is what many see as a drive to de-emphasize party politics in the upcoming elections. The political market is flooded with brochures, flyers and video ads of nominees who have conveniently omitted that they are Republican. Just as insidious is the sudden renewal of interest in third party candidates and the increase of people who claim that it’s the person and not the party they vote for. Upon further examination, those espousing the person over the party are for the most part, Republicans. Don’t believe the deception, don’t believe the rhetoric, its always been the party. Years ago when the party's platforms were not as far apart, I would disagree, but not any longer.

Right now, the majority of Americans feel our country has been led in the wrong direction and it is easy to see why. The Republican “Contract with America” and the newly minted “American Values Agenda” are largely responsible for what is wrong with our country today. They are the party supporting the debacle in Iraq and defending the windfall profits of Big Oil. But it doesn’t end there. Just to be fair they are also the party of the arrogant neocon foreign policy, out-sourcing of jobs, corporate welfare, taxcuts for the rich, record national debt, profits at the expense of worker health and the environment, racial profiling, higher local taxes, cooked books, segregation, congressional corruption, warrantless eavesdropping, union busting, dismantling Social Security, unfunded domestic programs, a failed foreign policy, Big Religion and torture just to mention a few. Perhaps the worst offense has been the unwavering support for the White House’s deliberate misdirection of our domestic resources and military in the war on terror. Consequences from this may outlive our debt.

Their doctrine has everything to do with the relinquishment of the U.S. Constitution and nothing to do with the average person. Yes, the Republicans are the party in power today and that is the agenda they are proud of, but many of them mysteriously deny affiliation during this most recent campaign. Who can blame them?

Over and over, we hear somebody like George W. Bush tell us to vote for the man he’s got his arm around because, ”he’s a good man.” Well, I don’t want to be led around by a person merely because someone said they’re good and competent, and ignore their political philosophy.

I compare politics to religion. Just because I believe in God does not mean I will allow myself to be religiously led around by a good, competent and hard working Islamic cleric or a Jewish Rabbi.

For those same reasons, I refuse to vote Republican. The party's philosophies are starkly different enough today that the choice of voting for the lesser of two evils has finally come to an end. It is in the Democrats favor that they never really laid out a self-serving bumper sticker platform like the Republicans have. The Republican agenda in its current format is untenable.

Less our inherent human conditions such as corruption and greed, the Democrats agenda is primitively idealistic and difficult to recognize after all these years. Similar to that of George Washington and Ben Franklin, it is simply to forge a government “for the people and by the people.”