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BH opinions sought

by: Thomas Simmons

Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 14:13:11 PM EST
I am asking for the honest opinions of BH folk on a poll on my website.  It's one question, and won't take you more than a minute or two.  Thanks, folks..

http://www.tullyspage.blogspot...
Thomas Simmons :: BH opinions sought
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BH opinions sought | 7 comments
I voted "Independent" (0.00 / 0)
Which is fine, we need independents in the political process.

It may be that anyone with strong and consistent ideological positions - in any direction - is not really at home in the majority-seeking duopoly. Each party is supposed to try to attract 51%, which doesn't fit well with strict ideology. (I think the GOP is adrift in this respect right now, but that's an aberration.)

The Democratic Party is tilted to civil rights and liberties. We earned that by deliberately shedding the segregationists under LBJ, Humphrey, and others.

The Democratic Party also strongly supports a state role in ensuring access to education, health care, and a decent wage.

That suits me fine. I've concluded that I am a pragmatist - if the free market works, use it! If intervention works, use it! But many folks across the spectrum (spectra?) will find it unsatisfying.

The GOP is a good fit with many of your strong views on economic rights, but that's it.

I had prepared a thoughtful resposne (4.00 / 1)
in my head, but this pretty much covers it.

I personally don't feel that Democratic beliefs on governance repress personal freedom for the average American, so I would advocate trying on the Democratic party, but basically what elwood said.

[ Parent ]
Adding - (0.00 / 0)
Choosing a party, if you're really involved, is less like ordering a meal at a restaurant and more like cooking at home.  You don't just accept the menu (of the party's policy positions), you help to choose it.

It's an interesting question, on which party is more open to change from an evolving base. I wonder if we could somehow measure that.

[ Parent ]
It has been an intriguing exercise... (4.00 / 2)
...so far, Independent is far and away the most popular answer.  It is a curious thing to find yourself halfway through life and have the political ground below you shift so severely that you're no longer standing on the deck of the ship you boarded :-)
So shifted, in fact (0.00 / 0)
that you have metaphorically found yourself on land after being at sea so long on that ship you boarded!

Confusing times, indeed.

[ Parent ]
Democrat (4.00 / 2)
. . . because we live in a two-party system, and one of those parties seeks to dehumanize, debase, and scapegoat men and women who share your sexual orientation in order to get elected.  If that offends you (as it does me), then you are best served by voting for Democratic candidates.

We never agree with our political party 100% of the time.  The raging debates on this site alone is testament to that.  But the party of Roosevelt, Truman, Kennedy, Carter, Clinton, and Obama is one that places human rights on a pedestal.  Even when Democrats disagree on our interpretation of this powerful concept, we share our respect for it.  

And, while there are many decent and principled Republicans who honor civil rights, the GOP leaders who drive the party's direction -- both in NH and DC -- are not among them.

"Conservatives, (4.00 / 5)
at their very best, draw lines that should never be crossed.  Progressives, at their very best, tear down walls that should never have been built." 

Big Dog  

"Physical concepts are free creations of the human mind, and are not, however it may seem, uniquely determined by the external world." A. Einstein

[ Parent ]
BH opinions sought | 7 comments
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