the nasty virginia governor's race is over, and the democratic candidate, tim kaine, has beaten the republican, jerry kilgore. this was an ugly race, about typical for today's politics. it was a racae of nothing but attack ads from all candidates save one, the independent candidate for goverenor, russell potts. potts is normally a republican, but he too was sick of the "business as usual" aspect of american politics, so he chose to run a race that he had no chance this week of winning. but run he did, and i voted for him.
how many times was i told that voting for him was a wasted vote? too many. how many people really didn't like the two choices at all? too many. how many voted for the lesser of two evils? again, you guessed it. so why continue to support a system that is clearly broken and badly needs repair? because there don't seem to be any visible ways to change the status quo.
my theory is that when people finally get sick of having lousy choices, they will really get disgruntled and elect someone off the wall to prove a point. certainly the election of jesse venture an minnesota a few years ago showed that. and kinky friedman's campaign for governor in texas may really turn into something. if in texas, i certainly would support him. he has good ideas and no axe to grind for a party.
the republican and democratic parties no longer stand for much to me. all i see is a bundle of professional politicians who have a vested interest in themselves. people who go into politics are on the ultimate ego trip. they love power, attention, control. so we now have professional politicians. i don't believe our forefathers ever meant for the system to become what it has withered away too...a place where the rich and privileged can buy a way for themselves to go on the endless ego trip. i don't think the average voter means much to an elected official short of being the vehicle by which they can stay on the ego train. the elected lowrents don't seem to care about real issues that affect me or what is best for my child, except for during an election year. they play endless partisan politics. like little boys in a sandbox, they play war, hurl sand, smash each others sandcastles, with the sole goal being winning, period. "he who dies with the most toys wins." but who really wins? what do i gain as a result of filibusters and ridiculous pork barrel spending?
the only way to break this cycle is to begin a grassroots campaign where a candidate walks the streets and rings the doorbells. anyone trying to win in a situation like this pretty much has no hope the first time out. independent candidates just don't have money to publicize themselves. they don't have the backing of the big spenders. they don't have the clout right now. but someone has to start somewhere. someone has to run, like russell potts, and GIVE THE VOTER AN ALTERNATIVE. someone also has to run on the real issues and give people the hard facts. if you want improvements, you are going to likely have to raise taxes. if you want better education, you need to look at what is in place, and find out what is really needed within the buildings. you don't spend you time listening to a bunch of pundits who either never have been in a classroom, or are so far out of it that they don't have a clue. you shake people's hands and look them in the eyes and when they ask you a question, you answer it...HONESTLY. i suspect that most people know that we are all flawed, and if asked about something like "did you smoke marijuana" they would respect the honest answer of "yes." admit it, move on. make it a non-issue.
as citizens, we need to start repairing the nest. our little chicks are growing up looking at this rubbish and thinking it is ok to have scandal after scandal. they see these oily creatures hurling mud at each other, but don't think about it anymore BECAUSE IT IS THE NORM. we need to change the norm.
so vote independent, or run independent and get others on board. we need to have better choices than we have been given. your vote is more wasted if you vote for those whom you know aren't much of a choice. by casting those votes, you continue sending the message back to these often corrupt and out of touch individuals that what they do in our names is ok. it isn't. character counts. so does honesty. we need to make the phrase "honest politician" no longer the oxymoron that it has become.
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