Elections
Democrats are jubilant as closely contested Governor races in New Jersey and Virginia went their way. Some are pointing to this as potent signs of the decline of George Bush, and the slow implosion of the Republican party.
On the contrary, both of these contests were closely fought and closely won. Neither was a landslide, and I don't think they really say anything about the political state of the union as a whole. Yes, it is clear that the populartiy of Bush is declining across the country, and the Republican party is having moments of self doubt that were not there a couple of years ago. However, one party's loss is not necessarily another party's gain, and the Democrats are only slowly getting better at seizing the momentum. Besides which, these races were won largely on local issues. State issues. As they should be.
One thing is nice to see though: the voters of both states reacted pretty strongly against negative campaigning and television ads. It seemed to hurt Kilgore more than it helped him in VA for example, and that's a welcome sign. While I know scare tactics and negative campaigning are usually very effective, they are largely morally repugnant to me.
Democrats are jubilant as closely contested Governor races in New Jersey and Virginia went their way. Some are pointing to this as potent signs of the decline of George Bush, and the slow implosion of the Republican party.
On the contrary, both of these contests were closely fought and closely won. Neither was a landslide, and I don't think they really say anything about the political state of the union as a whole. Yes, it is clear that the populartiy of Bush is declining across the country, and the Republican party is having moments of self doubt that were not there a couple of years ago. However, one party's loss is not necessarily another party's gain, and the Democrats are only slowly getting better at seizing the momentum. Besides which, these races were won largely on local issues. State issues. As they should be.
One thing is nice to see though: the voters of both states reacted pretty strongly against negative campaigning and television ads. It seemed to hurt Kilgore more than it helped him in VA for example, and that's a welcome sign. While I know scare tactics and negative campaigning are usually very effective, they are largely morally repugnant to me.
posted by slithytoves at 3:36 PM
3 Comments:
Yes, but what about the Democrats taking bible study classes for 2006 (I forget the name of the "committee")? What about the heavy campaigning by Kaine on religious radio stations? Let's hear your take on the church/state line that Democrats are now crossing in the wake of 2004. I think this is far more concerning, considering Democrats are taking 2006 and 2008 to Republican territory rather than the other way around while sacrificing the need, and the ethics laid down by our forefathers, insisting the subject of religion remain completely neutral in state decisions.
Politics means you do what is necessary to get elected. It's wonderful to stand on principle, but what if that means you're locked out of power? Given the things politicians have done to get elected in the past, taking a bible study class seems pretty harmless. Besides, most of these people are not misrepresenting themselves (Kaine is pretty religious, and if he needs to emphasize that to get elected, why not? as long as it does not guide his actions as an elected official.) To be clear: i completely agree that keeping our government a religiously neutral environment is important, and i find the current trend disturbing, as clearly you do. But I don't think any lines have been crossed just yet.
> Politics means you do what is
> necessary to get elected.
Yeah, I think we have differing views of what Politics means.
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