Recently I went to an upscale Hollywood eatery with some friends where I was introduced to a young woman from Arizona who will be voting for the first time in November. After some polite small-talk, the conversation turned to politics and when I asked her who she was voting for, she proudly told me John McCain.
When I asked her if she shared McCain's views on a no-timetable war, she said, "No". So, I asked her if she shared McCain's views on abortion and she said, "No". Growing more confused I asked her if she thought Sarah Palin was truly ready to be a heartbeat away from the presidency and she said, "No". Maybe I was missing something. I did the math in my head again then asked her why she would vote for McCain? She looked at me as if the answer was obvious and said, "My parents are Republicans".
Was that it? Was there no other thought process involved in formulating her decision other than toeing the family party line?
Her answer made me remember going to my first Dodger game in 1963. It was the night Sandy Koufax pitched a no-hitter and from that moment on I was a Dodger fan, proudly rooting for the home team. I collected trading cards and the walls of my room were covered with posters of Koufax, Wills and Roseboro -- but as the years went by and Koufax and the other players who had captured my imagination retired I begin to realize that it wasn't the same team. Year after year the Dodgers let me down and one day I realized that I was rooting for something that I once believed in, but no longer did: I was rooting for a trademark. I think to some extent that is the problem with politics today. So many of us are locked in that 'home team mentality.'
I meet so many people who have moved to Los Angeles. Cubs fans. Knicks fans. Lions fans. Why do these people continue year after year to put their hopes in organizations that have consistently let them down time and time again? It's because they have a stake in them. They've invested their trust in them and they want them to prove they we were right in doing so.
It's just silly to vote for McCain because he is Republican. It's even sillier to vote for him just because you are a Republican -- but that's what he is counting on. He wants Republicans and independents to look beyond the state of the country and believe that somehow approaching the same problems in the same way will somehow yield a different outcome.
I can't think of another election that is more important than this one. We are faced with serious issues: two wars, a failing economy, the highest unemployment figures in years - not to mention the price of gas and America's waning image of respectability throughout the world. People are fed up. George W. Bush has the lowest approval rating of any president I can remember in my lifetime. So why aren't Bush's low ratings accurately reflected in the presidential polls? It's because Republicans want to believe. They want a political leader to validate the trust they put in their party.
After eight years of George Bush, voting for McCain -- who agrees with him ninety percent of the time -- makes no sense to me at all. When employees don't do their job we fire them. When relationships don't give us what we need we end them -- but for some reason when it comes to politics this logic seems to fly out the window.
Voting for the same political ideals that got us where we are now is like waking up every morning and finding a carton of spoiled milk in the refrigerator. We know it's bad -- it smells awful -- but we don't throw it away, because maybe it'll taste better tomorrow.
More than ever this is a time to vote on the issues. Forget about red or blue -- left or right. Stop rooting for the home team just because you know the names on the roster and ask yourself who is going to do the best job guiding the country out of it's current problems? No candidate can appeal to every personal preference. If you are pro-life you differ with Obama on that issue -- but are you pro-jobs? Pro-health care? Pro-Main Street? Do you want the war to end? Do you want the economy to get better?
John McCain is proud of saying "Country First," but in a dishonorable campaign of lies, half-truths and constant flip-flopping he has proven time time again that his platform is built on an 'anything goes' strategy. He is the 'more of the same' candidate', using political slight of hand to try and distract us from the issues. At a time when the country is looking for intelligent leadership, what does John McCain offer us? Sarah Palin. In his first test of leadership with all the great minds and experience at his disposal, the best he can do is Sarah Palin. I will say this: if you are a fan of the home-team then she sure knows how to fire you up... doggone it! She wants you to think about next years team and forget about the last eight losing seasons!
Now I realize that a few lines in this blog are never going to change the thinking of hard-core Republicans, but to all you Independents out there who view yourselves as more than "Joe Six Pack" or a "Hockey Mom" I ask you think about where we are and how we got here. If you're a Republican who is disillusioned with the current state of our government then I would ask you to consider what we need to do to change it.
And to all the rest of you who think that John McCain is really going to to give us change and set the country on a different path, I've got some Buccaneer tickets for next years Super Bowl I'd like to sell you.