Pre-Election Jitters
Nov. 2nd, 2008 07:41 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
vovatI get annoyed when people claim that race isn't going to be a factor in the presidential election. I KNOW race is a factor, because I've heard people say, sometimes explicitly and other times in thinly veiled code, that they don't like and/or trust Obama simply because he's black. It certainly SHOULDN'T be a factor, and I'm sure it isn't for many people, but claiming that it won't be at all is demonstrating ignorance (and probably willful ignorance) that racism is still alive and well in this country. I really hope that people can overcome their racism enough to elect Obama, but I don't think it's a guarantee.
One thing I have to wonder is how many people actually fall for the weird campaign techniques that the media keep talking about. I mean, I've heard that there really wasn't a significant movement of Hillary Clinton supporters to Palin, but you certainly wouldn't have thought that from watching television around that time. And now there's McCain telling people at his rallies that they're ALL Joe the Plumber, and having them define themselves as "[Name] the [Occupation]." But is this actually a big movement in the country, or is it really only the people who attend McCain rallies who buy into it? I know I don't want to be compared to Joe the Plumber. And what also gets me is how the McCain campaign is trying to sell being ordinary as a positive thing. You know, that's not the world I live in. It's always been my thought that everyone wants to be EXTRAordinary, and we all consider ourselves to be better and smarter than average. But now it's apparently a great thing to be average, and "Joe Six-Pack" and "hockey mom" are compliments. Come on, the middle of the road is not where anyone WANTS to be. It's where they end up when they've given up all hope, and don't really mind if they get flattened by a gas-guzzling SUV. I'm a notorious pessimist, and I haven't resigned myself to a life of ordinary obscurity, so I have to wonder just how bleak things are for the people who have. The funny thing is that McCain's poster boy for ordinariness ISN'T settling for an average life, but rather hiring a publicist, trying to get a recording contract, and even contemplating a run for Congress. And if McCain is still trying to sell Joe the Plumber as a typical hard-working American, well, I doubt the guy is fixing all that many sinks while on the campaign trail with Johnny B. Goode and Sally Six-Pack. I'm just saying, is all.
Incidentally, Joe's actual last name is Wurzelbacher, which I assume means that he's from a proud line of manufacturers of circus organs.
Another election I'm concerned about is one in which I can't vote, because it's in California. After the judiciary system decided that gay marriage was legal, some genius decided to let the public vote on it. I say there are some issues too important to be decided by the masses. I learned in my high school government class that our system isn't supposed to be based simply on majority rule, but rather on majority rule WITH a focus on minority rights. I mean, do you think slavery or segregation would have ended if it had all been up to the voters? So why should the majority be able to choose whether or not certain people can get married?
One thing I have to wonder is how many people actually fall for the weird campaign techniques that the media keep talking about. I mean, I've heard that there really wasn't a significant movement of Hillary Clinton supporters to Palin, but you certainly wouldn't have thought that from watching television around that time. And now there's McCain telling people at his rallies that they're ALL Joe the Plumber, and having them define themselves as "[Name] the [Occupation]." But is this actually a big movement in the country, or is it really only the people who attend McCain rallies who buy into it? I know I don't want to be compared to Joe the Plumber. And what also gets me is how the McCain campaign is trying to sell being ordinary as a positive thing. You know, that's not the world I live in. It's always been my thought that everyone wants to be EXTRAordinary, and we all consider ourselves to be better and smarter than average. But now it's apparently a great thing to be average, and "Joe Six-Pack" and "hockey mom" are compliments. Come on, the middle of the road is not where anyone WANTS to be. It's where they end up when they've given up all hope, and don't really mind if they get flattened by a gas-guzzling SUV. I'm a notorious pessimist, and I haven't resigned myself to a life of ordinary obscurity, so I have to wonder just how bleak things are for the people who have. The funny thing is that McCain's poster boy for ordinariness ISN'T settling for an average life, but rather hiring a publicist, trying to get a recording contract, and even contemplating a run for Congress. And if McCain is still trying to sell Joe the Plumber as a typical hard-working American, well, I doubt the guy is fixing all that many sinks while on the campaign trail with Johnny B. Goode and Sally Six-Pack. I'm just saying, is all.
Incidentally, Joe's actual last name is Wurzelbacher, which I assume means that he's from a proud line of manufacturers of circus organs.
Another election I'm concerned about is one in which I can't vote, because it's in California. After the judiciary system decided that gay marriage was legal, some genius decided to let the public vote on it. I say there are some issues too important to be decided by the masses. I learned in my high school government class that our system isn't supposed to be based simply on majority rule, but rather on majority rule WITH a focus on minority rights. I mean, do you think slavery or segregation would have ended if it had all been up to the voters? So why should the majority be able to choose whether or not certain people can get married?
