“An elected official is primarily concerned with getting reelected. Everything else is secondary.” – Dr. John Pottenger, Professor of Political Science, University of Alabama in Huntsville
That seems axiomatic to me anymore. Dr. Pottenger probably wasn’t the first guy to say it, but he was the first guy to say it to me, most of 18 years ago. So I always think of him when I think of the sentiment.
A year or so ago when I told my good mate Charles I was a Libertarian, he said “yeah? Tired of having your vote count?” Heh. When I told Lea, she never looked up from her book as she said “Bo, you’ve been a Libertarian for years; you just haven’t called it that.” Wicked wise even at this relatively youthful juncture, this marvelous woman to whom I have committed all the days of my life is.
I began calling it that when I truly started believing that it made no difference whether Democrats or Republicans were in. I don’t like what any of them are saying about anything. I’m finding myself significantly left of the Democrats socially, and significantly right of the Republicans fiscally, and the respective converses thoroughly obnoxious. They both court the center, which means they stand for absolutely nothing. I find the tortured rationalizations equally offensive, whether I’m reading The Nation or National Review. Sir, would you care for watered-down bourbon or watered-down Scotch this evening?
As Calvin once wisely remarked to Hobbes: a good compromise leaves everyone miserable.
So once I truly believe it makes no difference, what motivation do I have to hold my nose and vote for a Republocrat anymore? None. Voting Libertarian is far closer to voting my conscience than any alternative.
How do you really feel about things? Have you taken The World’s Smallest Political Quiz yet?
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