Bloomberg Politics: While the next election may seem distant, it really isn't. The Iowa caucuses, the voting that starts the nomination process, are only about 13 months away, and some lesser-important events like candidate debates and straw polls will arrive much sooner. The legwork the prospective candidates do during the first quarter of 2015 will include trying to line up endorsements, recruiting staff and volunteers, and raising money.
I don't say much about politics because that's not what this blog is about. But reading this article gave me the fantods. Two years until the elections, and we're going to have to endure more than 20 months of political campaigns. Okay, I say "we" but I'm not sure I will. I think that for the first time in 50 years I'll just pay no attention. I've just gotten fed up. I don't think I'm the only one, considering the historically low turnout in the mid-terms. There's a limit to what I can put up with, and although there's no limit on how long someone can campaign or how many thousands of hours the TV news channels report the shenanigans or how many millions the candidates can spend, they can do it all without me this time around. A pox on all their houses.
18 comments:
And they better stay off your damn lawn!
Jeff
Durn tootin'!
I've got to say, I feel exactly the same way.
Jeff
It's the 24-hour news cycle and the "endless campaign" mentality: everytime any possible candidate does the slightest thing, it gets reported the way Kremlin-watchers would analyze May Day parades in the 1970s. Why, just today, Jeb Bush resigned from some boards he served on--and that can only mean one thing: he's going to run in 2016!!
And Elizabeth Warren flossed her teeth, so she must be seriously thinking about running in 2016. And if House Majority Whip Steve Scalise manages to get a speaking gig with the NAACP, well...
Already it looks like they are blaming Bush.
Afraid I disagree with the majority sentiment here. While I believe that both parties are owned by Wall Street and big oil and big pharma (to name just a few) there are some in the Dem party still fighting for a more equitable distribution of wealth. 1% of 1% own more than 50% of the rest of us do. There are also some Gopers who believe this but they are understandably afraid to speak up. Like Clinton and Bush Obama sold us out big time to vested interests. Big time. Hillary has made as much as a quarter of a mil per speech "speaking" to Wall Street gatherings. I've always thought Billary were grifters anyway. I like Eliz Warren but I don't think she has much hope as a Presidential candidate.
I say all this in the same spirit of despair as the rest of you but the worst thing citizens can do is drop out of the electoral process. I had to slog through a terrible election that just ended two months ago that featured a very nebbishy and ineffective liberal against a hog-castrating simpleton (she was endorsed by Sarah Palin if that tells you anything). The Koch brothers bought so many commercials (they had created her from whole cloth thanks to some extremely talented political sharpshooters) you could not escape them.
I say all this as someone who has written speeches for both a GOP Governor and statewide GOP candidates though I admit most of my speech writing was for Dem candidates. Until Gingrich took over the House I regularly voted for GOP candidates. I'm a big admirer of The Great Compromiser Bob Dole. There are so many windbag hacks in the Dem party I wish the GOP would dump the far right and get back to serious governance. I need two parties to choose from. Neither party owns the copyright on wisdom. But the big thing is that no matter how wearying it gets we have to stay involved and vote.
I haven't missed an election since I turned 21. I was impressed as a youngster when my grandmother good all dressed up in her best (which wasn't all that great) and had me drive her to the city hall to vote. I figured it must be really important. I'll vote this time, too, but I'm dropping out of the two-year campaign. I'll tune back in when somebody's nominated. You should've plugged your excellent Dev Conrad books here, Ed. Great reading.
What elections? What politics? It's all controlled behind the scenes. Voting has become a farce, and costing tax payers billions of dollars.
I'm not dropping out of the electoral process. Most of you know I'm a naturalized citizen and one of my proudest moments as an American citizen is the ability to vote. Since I've been eligible to vote (1980), I've missed one election--a small by-election to replace a member of the assessor board--about 200 people voted and I kept kicking myself that I forget. What I try to tune out is the endless dissecting of every potential candidate's every move. That is so exhausting.
What Bill said. Of course I intend to vote as I always have. It was frustrating to not be able to vote against Nixon in 1968 because the voting age wad still 21 and I was only 19.
But I certainly do not intend to get personally involved. The good part about living in a deep blue state is that the Republican Party doesn't even bother spending money on advertising so I don't have to watch the idiotic crape and lies I've seen in other parts of the country.
Jeff
Also, I'm sure Bill would agree with me that The Hog-Castrating Simpletons would be a good name for a rock band.
Jeff
Indeed, it would be an excellent name.
There are no political races in Texas after the primaries. Everything is decided when the nominations are in. It doesn't matter how I vote, since the Republicans are winning by such wide margins -- hundreds of thousands of voted in statewide elections. My vote makes little difference to either side.
I think it's worth a mention here that as sick as Judy was in early November, she insisted that I take her to vote. She got dressed and we went down to the polls and did it. I'm glad we did, even if it made no difference at all in the outcome.
I will certainly vote, but until the election is a few months away, political candidates are a bunch of clown cars crashing into each other in some weird version of demolition derby. God help us, someone's car will run just a little better, a little longer, than that of the other contenders.
Jerry M
I vote, but I have a hard time finding someone I really want to vote for. The last presidential I flipped a coin.
Opposite story here, Bill. WA is a leftist state.
How lomg can you ignore the rising chant of "Cri-der! Cri-der! Cri-DER!" coming from masses starved for leadership?
That's one chant I can ignore forever.
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