I thought, "Well, that's better than lying on a cold bench in Dupont Circle." (It surprising how quickly you can feel like a person without a home.) So off I went to the debate.
You political junkies out there probably noticed the missing name: Ron Paul. He is the star of Libertarian politics (though he's still a Republican) and, just recently, he broke the one million vote mark in the Republican Primary election. He even has $5 million in his campaign fund. That said, he was no where to be found at this debate.
Honestly the event wasn't that interesting. I met Anthony, a first year law student at George Mason who considers himself a Libertarian and works at a think tank whose aim is make our voting system more equitable. I met Jessica, a writer for an online magazine who was sent to get a story on how the Libertarian Party could be to the Republicans in '08 what Nader was to the Democrats in '00. And I met the campaign manager of a Virginia congressional candidate who, quite frankly, was weird.
The big takeaway was a new perspective on why I like the Democratic Party: it seems like we're simply not as extreme. The Republicans all vie for the following titles: Hates Terrorists the MOST; Hates Taxes the MOST; Hates Environmentalists the MOST; Wants to Drill in ANWR the MOST; Is the LEAST PUSSY OF US ALLLLLLLL; etc. You get the point. The Libertarians were the same way. It was a competition to see who could mention state's rights and the constitution the most. There was a specific question about who promised to close which federal agencies. It's all so extreme. Perhaps it's due to my perspective, but Democrats don't seem to have those extreme positions. Can you think of any?
2 comments:
In short, no. While there's definitely some extreme views within the party, I don't think they dominate.
For a long time there was little place in the Democratic party for socially conservatives. The perception I and many others had was that Democrats represented the EXTREME abortion, homosexual, feminist, positions. If you had strong religious views you didn't feel too welcome
I read back in 04 (I think) about a pro-life Democratic organization that was denied a place at the convention, or on the DNC website, presicely becuase it was pro-life.
That's changed a lot, and the party has taken a lot more pragmatic approach. It's won so many elections recently because it's running candidates who can win in places like Mississippi--candiates who are pro life, pro gun, and who think marriage is between one man and one woman.
And since they're willing to now accept my views, when I look at the party there's a lot to like. Bush's deficets have kindly draped the mantle of fiscal responsbility around their sholulders, they've been spot on about the environment, energy policy, and Iraq, and so far they've avoided the ethics violations we saw with the Republican controlled congress.
So kudos to them and I hope if Obama gets elected he walks the walk.
I guess kudos to "us" since I'm a D now. I keep forgetting that!
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