What I Think About All This

I've decided at this juncture in time to give my opinion on what I have observed in my reading of all this political mail, but infused with what I actually know about the candidates.
Also before I start, I apologize for not having more republican emails. I just signed up for the RNSC and RNCC in addition to the few email that the RNC sends out.


So here goes:
The Democratic Party & DSCC &DCCC: I've been getting emails from Howard Dean and crew for a while, and I have a lot of admiration for the man. His 50-state strategy helped gets Democrats the majority in the past congressional elections, and is getting ready to continue the gains.
The Democratic party has been pretty tame for the most part in the past 8 years, but one thing I've noticed from reading emails is that there seem to be more humane goals on our [my] agenda than the Republican party. Dean has sent out a lot more emails than whoever runs the RNC right now, and I think that he wants to keep voters and the party faithful up-to-date and involved. I've been on the RNC email list since 2004 and I could probably count on my hands the number of RNC emails I've gotten outside of election season 2004. Our argument summed up in one sentence: We have let the Bush administration get away with too much damage to our country for too long, it's our turn especially now that we have more solid plans than the Republicans.
And finally, I think that in terms of slurring the other side, the Democrats keep things focused - Bush and the neocons have (definitely) shredded our constitution, let our deficit balloon, and they keep lying to us about the war. These are legitimate political concerns and such, especially to a biased liberal "special interest" like me, who totally is giving bokus of cash to the party so that I can destroy Bush's super awesome happy fun time legacy that's only being protected by the righteous forces of the totally average American supporters of the....
Republican National Party: what few emails I get from them basically strike me as a little nastier than the Democratic ones. My side is referred to as "highly partisan", on a roll to take "complete control" of Washington (like that's not what the conservatives just had for the last 8 years, like compromise or party control shifting isn't a historical phenomenon), "liberal" like it's still a bad word, they say that MoveOn.org is a "radical protest group", and the like.
What the hell is this? A party or a bitchfest of people in power bitching that they can't have a one party state? I've been watching the RNC for a long time, and in the past 8 years they've served as the unofficial attack dog of the white house, sending Ken Mehlman out to, as a teacher from my old high school used to say, "weave a tapestry of bullshit." The RNC gets to be meaner than the president, and it gets to apologize when the president gets mean. It's a political win-win. It's a national win-lose, the American people losing, of course.

And MoveOn.org: I think they need to stop sending so many emails, and they seem to have chilled out a bit. They had a lot of goodwill in 2004 but I think a lot of folks are tired of getting outrage/information overflow. But in my years of watching politics, one thing is for sure: they genuinely care about the agenda they have, and they back up their emails with links to news stories. I like that. Most people will throw opinions at you like they're true. MoveOn.org throws opinions at you and gives you news stories so you can fact-check. nice.

And on to the Candidates:
first the failed ones.
Dennis Kucinich: He's my kind of liberal policy-wise but America doesn't like policy-wonks or short candidates, they want an asshole who can scare them or someone to calm them down. Honestly providing solutions isn't in the question, and advocating peace so much in his emails and still falling tells me that America isn't ready to realize how stupid war and violence is. Also, he was a congressman (low fundraising ability) and rankled moderates too much, I bet.

John Edwards: I thought he was going to keep up. I was wrong. To me, John's emails were great. When he started his OneCorps to get college kids going around fixing poor areas of America I thought it was great; when he decided to run for president I thought it was great. Too bad he hired Joe Trippi for his manager, because I think John probably was the closest to what America wants, it's just that he was abrasive about it and so he lost. Also, like Kucinich, most Americans haven't woken up and paid attention to policy in a while.

Ron Paul: I think he might still be trying to run, but he said he's not going to run as an independent, so he lost in my book. His emails were rather humble, basically a husband-and-wife operation, and they were plain text. Not very exciting, not energetic, and to boot Ron's a libertarian which most Americans disagree with.

Rudy Giuliani: I just looked back at his emails, and I think I can see into his campaign a bit. It's bland + scary scary 9-11 terrorists scary. He lost, and now I hope he goes away forever.

Mitt Romney: In real life, he's an asshole. In his emails, I guess they were alright. He talked about conservatives and conservatism a lot. whoop-dee-do he's just an opportunist in the end, and now apparently a party hack as he's been campaigning for McCain. Oh those republicans, stab each other in the back and when the RNC says "now" they turn around and smile fake smiles and start patting each other's backs without wincing. Party over ideals. It's the Republican way.

Mike Huckabee: Probably the most likeable Republican candidate. Recently came out and defended Jeremiah Wright. His emails were humble without being too humble, they had an energy, he had "Rangers" and chuck norris on his side. It was a "cool" conservative campaign, but in the end he still believes in evolution and wants to make this a christian nation. uh-oh.


And the last three observations will come later! I have class.