Friday, January 04, 2008
Iowa Presidential Primaries
I watched the Iowa presidential primaries last night, even going so far as watching one of the precinct caucus' live. It took me one step towards restoring my faith in democracy and in the future.
For those who weren't watching Mike Huckabee took the Republican nomination for the state. Barak Obama took the democratic nomination. I'm a big John McCain fan myself, and he didn't win this one, so why am I so excited?
First, turnout was tremendous. On the democratic side it was double what it was before, on the Republican side it was 15% greater. It's great to see people getting involved in the process. Turning out and making a difference. The public has been so turned off with politics they have stopped voting, thinking their votes don't make a difference, that all the candidates are basically not worth voting for. Now some people are starting to believe in politicians again.
Huckabee, Obama, and McCain help fight this mass polarization that is happening in America. Liberal vs Conservative. Black vs White. Atheists vs Evangelicals. They try to approach things rationally and break from their party line where it makes sense. They try to reach out to people who don't agree with them and support policies that benefit those who will always vote for the other guy. It's really refreshing. I think if one of these three is elected it will go a long way towards healing our nation.
The fact that some of the divisive and generally less trustworthy candidates who were high in the polls didn't win is also a blessing. It's one thing to have a candidate you don't agree with on issues win, it's quite another to have a candidate whose very nature abhors you to win. I got to breathe a big sigh of relief last night.
I'd just like to close by linking to a well written article that I totally agree with. It's unfortunately NYTimes, which insists on trying to invade it's "free" users privacy, so you may want to visit bugmenot.com first.
The Two Earthquakes by David Brooks
For those who weren't watching Mike Huckabee took the Republican nomination for the state. Barak Obama took the democratic nomination. I'm a big John McCain fan myself, and he didn't win this one, so why am I so excited?
First, turnout was tremendous. On the democratic side it was double what it was before, on the Republican side it was 15% greater. It's great to see people getting involved in the process. Turning out and making a difference. The public has been so turned off with politics they have stopped voting, thinking their votes don't make a difference, that all the candidates are basically not worth voting for. Now some people are starting to believe in politicians again.
Huckabee, Obama, and McCain help fight this mass polarization that is happening in America. Liberal vs Conservative. Black vs White. Atheists vs Evangelicals. They try to approach things rationally and break from their party line where it makes sense. They try to reach out to people who don't agree with them and support policies that benefit those who will always vote for the other guy. It's really refreshing. I think if one of these three is elected it will go a long way towards healing our nation.
The fact that some of the divisive and generally less trustworthy candidates who were high in the polls didn't win is also a blessing. It's one thing to have a candidate you don't agree with on issues win, it's quite another to have a candidate whose very nature abhors you to win. I got to breathe a big sigh of relief last night.
I'd just like to close by linking to a well written article that I totally agree with. It's unfortunately NYTimes, which insists on trying to invade it's "free" users privacy, so you may want to visit bugmenot.com first.
The Two Earthquakes by David Brooks
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