warning:

the following is an incoherent, rambling, liberal-leaning, rough
draft of a political “essay” which is mostly meant for me. being the
narcissist that i am, i thought i’d make it public and see if
anyone else was having similar thoughts. if you’re a conservative,
i hope we can still be friends. whatever your political leaning,
send an
email

and let me know what you think.

i tend to think of myself as a political centrist who is not
strongly tied to any particular political party, despite the fact
that i almost always vote democratic. i vote. even in midterm and
local elections and i do my best to stay on top of candidate
positions, although my better half, kristine, is usually much
better at this than myself.

but as this election cycle gets rolling, moreso than any other, i’m
finding that i’m not vaguely centrist. i’m a liberal. i’m a
liberal’s liberal. i’m as progressive as they come. o.k. i know i
did go to that bastion of northwest liberalism,
the evergreen state college

, but i’m still as surprised as anyone that i’m apparently becoming
more liberal over time. i thought you were supposed to chill out
and get all moderate as you age gracefully.

no, instead, i’m feeling marginalized and disenfranchised and i’m
tired of it.

so what’s a liberal’s liberal to do? well, normally you’d support
dennis kucinich

[ who is, b.t.w.,
guest blogging

for lawrence lessig at the moment ]. i admit to having some initial
adverse reactions which were mostly the result of media soundbites
on his positions and opinions on his electibility. but when i look
at his
“progressive
vision”

, i’d have to say it articulates things in a way that i strongly
identify with. so i guess that makes me a progressive, liberal
kook. so sue me.

my problem is that i have this heart and head thing going on. my
heart says i should voluteer for the
dennis kucinich

campaign and help him get out the vote. but my head says that i
should just go with
dean

. my heart says that i know they are
not the
same

and i’m sick-and-tired of compromising, but my head says politics
is compromise and that voting with the heart

isn’t necessarily the most effective way to achieve desired polical
ends

. my heart says, “viva la revolution!”, while my head says that
things aren’t looking so good in kucinich-land when molly ivans, of
all people, reduces kucinich to,
“… a
no-hoper. Can’t elect a guy that short and skinny, not to mention
vegetarian. Accuse me of cynicism in my old age, but I am
interested in winning this one. Decent, kind, excellent: no Elvis,
no hope.”

. a cheap shot, unfair, and despicable in its own way, but we are
living in a country where an important electoral state apparently
is
in favor of
voting arnold schwarzenegger into the governor’s office

, without hearing one word about where he stands on
anything

substantive. if people are worried about

dean being too short to be electable

, then i guess kucinich is not viable as candidate based on his
haircut alone.

so will my heart or head win out in the end? i don’t know. i still
have a lot of work to do as a citizen to kick the tires on
kucinich’s
“progressive vision”

and decide for myself whether it’s tenable or just “feels
good”.