October 29, 2007

This primary season is a bit odd in some ways. There's a lot of canidates that people like and a lot that people don't like, yet nobody's saying much about it. It seems like usually by this time, people are screaming or singing praises. Yet there seems to be a morbid silence on the battlefield. Why?

Perhaps with all the brouhahas over when states are going to hold their primaries, people are starting to wonder if primaries are even going to matter, or whether decisions by candidates now have already determined the fate of the general election.

At least one thing remains the same; there seems to be about the same level of talk about how partisan politics divides people, and how major party canidates have sold themselves to the party and no longer have the courage to voice their own opinions.

Speaking for myself, I like both states of affairs; or to be more accurate, I don't think they're as bad as they're made out to be. Partisan politics does divide people, but since the divisions are based on fundamental issues, it's hard to see how the division could be avoided. Best to have the political scraps and compromises and then get on with coexisting than trying to pretend that the differences don't exist.

As for selling out to the party, I suppose that's always the danger of a party, and probably one of the reasons why Washington didn't like them. Unfortunately, they're pretty much a necessity of modern politics. Also, why is it necessarily selling out to a party to agree with all or most of its platform? If that's really what a person believes, why is that so bad? Finally, would you really want to elect someone to a major national office who couldn't get along with their own party?

I'm not asking for robot candidates; a few tussles on principle might be okay, just like those that exist in a family. If there are too many tussles, you have to wonder how much a candidate agrees with their own party, and about whether a candidate has the character to get along with others. If a candidate doesn't even know when to fight and when to compromise with those in his or her own party, how well will that candidate fare against an opposing party?