Democrats and Republicans....what does it matter? That was the tone of a comment that I just read on a post where the discussion was about the current low opinion ratings that both Congress and The President are currently receiving.
While I can understand that person's frustrations and I can even agree with him that in some ways all of the politicians, with the exception of Ron Paul and a few others, do seem to be alike. That is; money grubbing ideologs that are more concerned with lining their pockets and lining up political paybacks for as soon as they leave office.
But I do think that it does matter which political party that you support, if not belong to. If you don't believe me, can you imagine how different our world would have been if Al Gore had become President when he was elected back in 2000? While some of you may wince at this possibility, that is proof in and of itself that things would have been different.
Whomever took office after than election, be it from having gotten elected as Al Gore did or having been installed as Bush was, would have started from the same place. The dot.com bust would have had to have been dealt with. Iraq...well, if Gore had been selected Saddam Hussein would have probably still been alive and a thorn in our side, but he still wouldn't have been able to fly from one end of his country to the other without our permission.
My point is that Gore would have probably handled things differently than Bush did. Our energy policies would have been different, we wouldn't have had the tax cuts for the rich, while we may have ran some deficits, I doubt that our spending would have ran as out of control with Gore as President than it has with Bush. We'll never know, but I'm willing to bet that it would have been DIFFERENT!
So, while it's easy to shrug it off and declare that it doesn't matter which sides wins, the last 8 years have proven to me that it does matter. Bush and the neo-cons have had there way for 8 years now and look where it's gotten us?
Ronald Reagan asked the American public a simple question when he was running against Jimmy Carter. He asked, "Are you better off now than you were 4 years earlier? The public spoke and Reagan was elected.
Well now I'm asking you, are you better off than you were 4 or 8 years ago? How about the country as a whole? Is it better off than it was 4 or 8 years ago? Personally, I don't think so and I think that a lot of people agree with me. If you're one of these people, then get past the frustration. Recognize that we do have still have a voice.
Voting for a Democrat is a vote against the status quo. It's a vote against the policies of the last 8 years that have favored big business and the wealthy, not to mention the same policies that have driven our country to the point of bankruptcy. Is this next election going to wrestle our government back from the big corporations? I doubt it, but it's a step in the right direction!
The fact that it's a step away from the failed policies of the Bush administration is enough of a difference for me! Get out there and vote! Volunteer for a campaign. Do your best to get your voice heard
R.B. "Bob" Mitchell
ValueList Real Estate Services, Inc.
Bob Mitchell is president of ValueList Real Estate Services, St. Louis' largest discount/full-service real estate and mortgage company. If you would like to find out more about Bob, ValueList or our flat-fee listing program, please feel free to visit our web site at valuelistre.com
Comments(27)