How To Win in November

As a friend eloquently opined upon the upcoming election, “if the Democrats don’t win in November they need to pack up and go home.” I’ve always thought that a Hillary Clinton campaign is exactly what the Democratic party does not need — she is polarizing enough to convince more than just the rank-and-file GOPers to vote for McCain and, besides, you can’t win an election by simply not being the other guy (just ask John Kerry). They need someone that other Democrats can rally around, that Republicans don’t despise, and that independents can learn to like. That person, it seems, is Barack Obama.

The GOP, of course, has generally decided to nominate John McCain. This decision was not made entirely without reserve. In the West Virginia primary, for example, he recently managed to win an unimpressive 76% of the popular vote even though he’s the only serious Republican contender left in the race. In spite of that, he does have some favorable traits. He’s old, lackluster, and predictable. He is a political moderate. After Bush’s atrociously expensive eight year tenure in the white house, he is probably exactly what the Republican Party needs.

Assuming that Obama wins the nomination, I’m hesitant to commit to voting for either of the two major parties. All of my favorite candidates have left the race or are now seeking nominations of third parties. Both Obama and McCain have their high points. They also both have their resounding low points. I’ve outlined six issues below which I believe will help lead one of them to a victory in November. Many of these points have been completely avoided or otherwise unsatisfactorily addressed by both campaigns. They are arranged in order of importance, with the most important issues coming first.

Why I Disagree With Socialized Medicine

I’m very cynical of government. I think most people probably are. Henry David Thoreau said it best: “that government is best which governs least.”

Republicans aren’t shy about expressing their agreement. Reagan reiterated Thoreau (thanks, Katie!) with his famous zinger: “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help.’” I’m told that Ron Paul recently fumbled his way through a speech with similar meaning. It may or may not have been covered on C-SPAN 2.

Of course, not content with keeping the moral high ground, Republicans also want an overly meddlesome government.  They reconcile this contradiction by asserting that the government ought only to meddle in the lives of others*. This is evidenced by the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, the promulgation and subsequent support of the so-called “Patriot” Act, an almost unanimously Republican base of support for the REAL ID Act, and a 63% increase in the federal budget between 2001 (Clinton’s last budget) and 2009 (Bush’s last budget).

Democrats’ views are equally confusing. Democrats in congress have voiced unwavering support of ending the war when their support has been absolutely meaningless. They’ve also continued to fund it. The Democratic Party berates the president over his deficit spending, touting Bill Clinton’s projected surplus** at the end of his term. In spite of this deficit-be-damned position that the Democrats take, both of the major contenders for the Democratic nomination (Barack Obama and the other one) are both championing nationalized healthcare.