As I watch the candidates posture and sound bite like crazy I am so saddened by the Republicans using the same ‘fear monger’ strategy they have successfully used for years now. The term that comes to mind from my military days is FUD. Spread FUD aka fear, uncertainty, and doubt around like manure and you might win a race you otherwise would not have. Give your party faithful an excuse to vote for the lessor candidate because the other guy "is a terrorist." :o(
In the last presidential race it was the "Swift boat" crowd. The sad thing is that many of the undecideds who will decide the winner tend to be (as they said on the Daily Show last week) stupid. They aren’t tracking, doing the reading, listening to the news, following what the record of these candidates are and what they stand for. They hope to get ‘a round to it’ by time the election comes up. I bet some of them missed the need to register to be able to vote. In this state that date has come and gone. If you are not registered by now, you aren’t voting. No matter how much you posture and pontificate, you are out of the story.
If today a voter can not coherently describe the basic platforms that each candidate stand for, shame on them. And, sad to say, I’m talking about family members as well as friends here too. I really wonder how many staunch Republicans, folks who basically vote for lower taxes, NO MATTER WHAT, but then bitch about the quality of our infrastructure (road, airfield, and bridges) and education system.
Okay, I’ve railed enough. And my views are just one of many. The Republicans are appealing to fear. But still, questions about who Obama is (see comment above about keeping up with the news, we’ve been hearing from the candidates for over 20 months) and calling him a terrorist… Geesh. It was funny when they were calling Obama and elitist. Me, I’d like an elitist as the president. The good ol’ boys have let us down for so long now that the US has lost statue, influence, and now market share. Will this election be decided by the ‘good ol’ boy’ network once again?
The Bis Key Chronicles 
Hey, this possee member is on your side!!!
I agree – there are a lot of uninformed voters out there who listen to the last loudest person they heard, and the thing is close enough that it may be that they are the deciding factor. That is scary; it’s hard right now to believe that the American people, in their collective wisdom, will make a good decision. Seems to me like things are getting closer and closer to Idiocracy all the time, which postulates that only the stupid people are reproducing :).
Also, the proposal that Sarah Palin is anything close to executive material is unbelievable to me. Haven’t these people seen A Face In The Crowd? Andy Griffith’s finest moment, by the way.
Not everyone who votes has a specific party. I believe a lot more Republican stands then Democratic, but it is not because of lower taxes. Even though my stand is more Republican, I can see that McCain is not in the best of shape and Palin is more Bush then Bush. It is not always that people are listening to the loudest, it just seems better at the time. Btw, I didn’t vote Bush.
Personally, I don’t believe a quarter of what any of them say. Here or there.
But at least your form of democracy stands up to at least a few definitions of the word. Try our lot.
Anyway, may the best man win.
Keep on plucking.
Graham
ps you look a very happy couple in the pic. Nice!
I don’t understand how anyone can consider McCain or Palin the kind of leader we need. That is so frightening. Every once in a while I get an email of stupid things people have done, and it ends up saying, "and these people can vote". I agree with your stand of course. And I appreciate the Utube piece that Elaine sent. I sure hope this guy is right. I Can’t believe Jim’s Daughter and my granddaughter can even begin to like the republican way of give to the rich and take from the poor. Talk to her Jim. I know Aaron is with us.
From RS: Mad Dog Palin
"She totally reminds me of my cousin!" the delegate screeched. "She’s a real woman! The real thing!"
I stared at her open-mouthed. In that moment, the rank cynicism of the whole sorry deal was laid bare. Here’s the thing about Americans. You can send their kids off by the thousands to get their balls blown off in foreign lands for no reason at all, saddle them with billions in debt year after congressional year while they spend their winters cheerfully watching game shows and football, pull the rug out from under their mortgages, and leave them living off their credit cards and their Wal-Mart salaries while you move their jobs to China and Bangalore.
And none of it matters, so long as you remember a few months before Election Day to offer them a two-bit caricature culled from some cutting-room-floor episode of Roseanne as part of your presidential ticket. And if she’s a good enough likeness of a loudmouthed Middle American archetype, as Sarah Palin is, John Q. Public will drop his giant-size bag of Doritos in gratitude, wipe the Sizzlin’ Picante dust from his lips and rush to the booth to vote for her. Not because it makes sense, or because it has a chance of improving his life or anyone else’s, but simply because it appeals to the low-humming narcissism that substitutes for his personality, because the image on TV reminds him of the mean, brainless slob he sees in the mirror every morning.
My response is too long I am not surprised I will just place it in my space. Thank you for the post Catherine