Decius wrote:
] The Dems are going to be out for a long time if they can't be
] honest with themselves.

Yeah, I've been giving some thought about this. Like "Why did I vote for Bush?" I mean, I'm not a Republican, I'm an independent. In the past, I've voted Democrat, I've voted other parties. I could have voted Democrat this year, but I didn't, because I didn't like Kerry's message.

I've been listening to the opinion folks on the radio trying to make sense of why Kerry lost. For me, it's so simple that I want to scream at the radio: "Because of all the fucking mud!" Kerry didn't have his own message, he didn't have a plan, he wasn't offering to lead -- all he was doing was saying, "I'm not Bush. Bush sucks. Bush is bad. Vote for me, so Bush doesn't win." And that message wasn't enough for me. Further, it systematically alienated me, because I didn't see Bush as the anti-Christ, I didn't see Bush as an evil man, I didn't see Bush as a simpleton surrounded by corrupt Machiavellian advisors. I don't see the War in Iraq as a huge mistake, I don't think Bush systematically lied to the American people. And the more that Kerry pounded away at, "*Everything* Bush has ever done, or ever *will* do in the future is 100% wrong," the more I disliked the idea of voting for Kerry, and the more that I disliked the Democrat strategy.

There are things I still prefer on the Democrat platform than the Republican, especially when it comes to social issues. But I couldn't agree with them on the systematic demonization of the Bush administration. And I think that's where they really lost my vote.

Elonka wrote:
] Decius wrote:
] ] The Dems are going to be out for a long time if they can't
] be
] ] honest with themselves.
]
] Yeah, I've been giving some thought about this. Like "Why did
] I vote for Bush?" I mean, I'm not a Republican, I'm an
] independent. In the past, I've voted Democrat, I've voted
] other parties. I could have voted Democrat this year, but I
] didn't, because I didn't like Kerry's message.
]
] I've been listening to the opinion folks on the radio trying
] to make sense of why Kerry lost. For me, it's so simple that
] I want to scream at the radio: "Because of all the fucking
] mud!" Kerry didn't have his own message, he didn't have a
] plan, he wasn't offering to lead -- all he was doing was
] saying, "I'm not Bush. Bush sucks. Bush is bad. Vote for
] me, so Bush doesn't win." And that message wasn't enough for
] me. Further, it systematically alienated me, because I didn't
] see Bush as the anti-Christ, I didn't see Bush as an evil man,
] I didn't see Bush as a simpleton surrounded by corrupt
] Machiavellian advisors. I don't see the War in Iraq as a huge
] mistake, I don't think Bush systematically lied to the
] American people. And the more that Kerry pounded away at,
] "*Everything* Bush has ever done, or ever *will* do in the
] future is 100% wrong," the more I disliked the idea of voting
] for Kerry, and the more that I disliked the Democrat strategy.
]
]
] There are things I still prefer on the Democrat platform than
] the Republican, especially when it comes to social issues.
] But I couldn't agree with them on the systematic demonization
] of the Bush administration. And I think that's where they
] really lost my vote.

Humorously, I don't agree with the demonization of the Republican party. I think they have a good number of reasonable, thoughtful individuals. I think John McCain is a good guy. I don't agree with a lot of his positions, but he's a good guy. I think Arnie is actually a Libertarian, but he's listed as a Republican. I didn't dislike Arlen Specter, I thought Fred Thompson was an interesting guy.

I don't believe in George Bush as the anti-christ, that would mean I believed in the second coming. I believe he is a fool. He is a walking example of the idea that the road to hell is paved with good intentions, and in this case he is paving it with bodies as well because in his self-rightousness, he will never accept that he could have been wrong.

I believe Karl Rove is the embodiment of an utterly soulless "win at any cost" Machiavellian philosophy.

I do see the war in Iraq as a collossal mistake. We have turned a country that was in bad shape into one that will be even worse. Iraq is going to democratically elect a Taliban like government or Muslim theocracy and tell us to get the ... [ Read More (0.2k in body) ]