When I hear that a candidate has tried to buy votes with chocolate fondue fountains and coconut shrimp at the top of a lavish hotel in Vegas (yes, I've been there) --
I'm not impressed. I'm not depressed or repressed. Instead, I'm pretty much done with them.
Throwing expensive parties for votes merely tells me that a candidate does NOT think like I do, their consultants don't think like I do, and most importantly, they don't have a clue about global warming and its threat to humanity or they wouldn't be doing silly wasteful stuff like that... and frankly, it reveals much more about them.
Howard Dean asked ME to give money for his campaign. He didn't try to buy or flatter me.
Howard Dean went home and recycled. Big bins in the kitchen that hadn't been remodeled since they moved in decades ago. He mowed the lawn on the way to the airport for a campaign stop, so his wife wouldn't have to do it. Howard Dean went home and cleaned out the garage.
That told me that Howard was a man of PRINCIPLE, not promotion. That Howard was a man of SUBSTANCE not show. That Howard was a man of INTEGRITY, not imitation. His principles and his life were one and the same.
Howard was HONEST enough to be who he was, and let ME decide if I liked him or not -- Instead of chasing me down the street offering me goodies or toys, and expecting me to like him for that. Howard treated me like an adult with a right to know who he was, and to make up my own darned mind.
!!! NO !!! I do not want politicians to come fawning after me with meaningless, gawdy, wasteful gimmicks to "win my favor".
If you do -- well good on ya, but I want a different world. I want to Take_My_Country_Back(tm) from the glib, the superficial, the window-dressing, the fawning, the pretending, the "I'm in the middle, don't you like me, don't you like Meeeee, Don't YOU like Meeeee????" DLC, corporate, apologist, lost-soul politicians.
I don't want politicians who pretend to be in the middle on every issue, OR politicians who (shudder) might BE in the middle on every issue. "If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for any-thing" is an old country song standby, and boy is it true.
If you think this is strident, tune in next week, and I'll tell you what I really think about politicians who pander to voters -- and about where they might get the money to do just that -- and about politicians who sell out to win.
I mean, come ON, people, if this guy is willing to throw parties like this for YOU, what does that tell you about what he thinks "business as usual" is in politics?
It's "pay for play", it's "parties get votes".
If he's doing it for you, to get your vote, who's throwing parties (giving huge sums) for him, and what are they getting for it?
C'mon folks, is this what you want?
(Cross posted to Booman's diary, and Deleware Dem's diary, and possibly anywhere else I can think of.)