Talk about a good way to get myself shot.
Here's the thing, though. I really do agree with a lot of old-school Republican positions. I believe in smaller, more efficient government - though not at the expense of good programs. I believe in fiscal responsibility. And I believe in a lot of socially conservative principles. I'm a registered Republican in the state of New Mexico (for the moment - I may carpetbag to vote in Minnesota, which I have the ability to do, depending on where it looks like my vote may matter more).
But I'm 100% behind Wick Allison, former editor of the National Review, on this one. Today's Republicans are a tragic parody of conservative values. I've supported Obama from the beginning of this race, from back when he announced his candidacy in 2007. Why? Check after the fold.
Honestly, I think a lot of people agree with many of the positions I'm espousing here. I'm gonna do some of "The Republicans Greatest Hits" here, so feel free to follow along.
- Smaller Government
I believe in personal freedom. I believe in states' rights. C'mon, it's right there in the tenth amendment. I think our government is hopelessly overburdened, and the shape of legislative action since the civil rights movement is a crime against the ideals of the law. Our nation is founded on principles like freedom and equality, and sacrificing those principles is something we can never afford to do.
I also believe that our government is full of wastefully mismanaged money. I probably take a different view of what is and isn't mismanaged, though. Money going to the National Science Foundation and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, for example, I consider money well spent. The job of government isn't to micro-manage our daily lives, it's to help us achieve the sorts of things that we can't do alone. Put another way, government should be the ultimate community organization scheme. This is why we have a national military - because defense is best provided for a unified whole. Imagine if each individual state's national guard unit had deployed separately to help the British in World War II. Government should limit itself to tasks which help the people, generally large-scale tasks that can't be handled by private enterprise, and it should avoid intruding on their basic freedoms.
Oh, and one other thing. In its role as defenders of the people, the government should take on those tasks that industry proves incapable of handling, or that are antithetical to the profit-creating motivation. The best example of this is health care. Insurance companies are companies, and in seeking to maximize their profits, it is clearly in their best interests to reject as many insurance claims as possible. Here's an industry where the profit motive directly opposes the good of the people. Even Nixon saw the writing on the wall with HMOs.
Of course, the last eight years have proven pretty conclusively that, for the moment, if you want personal freedom and less intrusive government, you have to vote for Democrats.
- Fiscal Responsibility
Democrats used to be the party of wasteful spending, at some point in the distant past, but ever since the Clinton era, they've been the clear successors to the mantle of fiscal responsibility. Yes, I believe in government programs, but I believe we should be able to pay for them. The free market, as has been amply shown this week, is a fickle mistress. And why should we be surprised? There is no indication that the market wouldn't continue just fine without regulation here - banks would fail, and others would come to take their place. Capitalism would not collapse. From an economists perspective, this is an adjustment, and it will pass in time, and the market will almost certainly be stronger for it. But the problem is, capitalism exists to serve the people, not vice versa.
Regulation exists to protect individuals from the chaotic fluctuations of an unguided market. What we're seeing in Washington right now is the belated realization that when the markets are bad, people get hurt. Regulation may slow growth, but it also cushions the market when it inevitably falls. And downturns are a natural part of the capitalistic system. Right now, we're paying the price for making people serve the market, when the market should be serving the people.
But, at the end of the day, I believe in that old conservative value of fiscal responsibility. Which is why I have no choice but to vote Democrat.
- Social Issues
I dislike abortion. I believe in abstinence. I'm deeply religious (Catholic). But here's the deal: the position of the religious right has acted to undermine these values at every turn. Abortion is the best example.
On abortion, we've created a debate between two positions which don't oppose each other. How is choice the opposite of life, especially when it's perfectly acceptable to choose life? The pro-life position should be about reducing the number of abortions in America, but making the practice illegal just moves abortion from the front office to the back alley. It doesn't stop the problem. The religious right has cast the debate as pro-life versus pro-baby-killing, but the debate as it exists is actually pro-choice versus pro-government-interference. To get at the root of the problem, reducing the number of abortions, we need to take the fight out of the courts and into the schools, teaching kids how not to get pregnant, and educating them about the nature of abortion. I honestly don't think any woman wants to have an abortion. It's the choice you make when you run out of other options. Destroying the ability to make that choice doesn't help anyone, it just backs them into a corner. What we need is a more caring society where abortion is discouraged, disliked, and offered as an option to anyone who needs it.
I firmly believe at least 90% of the US population supports life in this way - how many people really want to use abortion as a type of birth control? But we can never have this discussion as long as one side keeps pushing for government interference in individual choice - which is why I have to side with Democrats, time and again, to end this silly debate.
In conclusion, I am a Republican. I believe in all the key Republican ideals.
That's why I have no choice but to vote against the Republicans this year, and every year.