Not a Party Guy

Sometimes I wish that I were more of a political partisan. It would make election day much more enjoyable, as I would have a party to "root" for. Unfortunately, as a radical moderate I almost never find myself in agreement with either candidate or party platform in any given race. I do almost always vote anyway, out of an ingrained sense of civic duty, but I'm rarely have more than a mild inclination towards the candidates I eventually select. Meanwhile, I feel like the Stealers Wheel lyric: "Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right, here I am, stuck in the middle..."

If I could craft a candidate to my liking, he/she would hold centrist positions on most major issues (with the exception being the war between the West and Radical Islam), and be stronger on common sense than partisanship. In my ideal world, this would lead to a landslide victory as the "great middle" swathe of voters would vote for him/her. But in reality, such an individual would never even be nominated by either major party, let alone garner the support of the associated right or left-wing special interest groups that are table stakes for any viable candidate.

One of my favorite movies is Dave. I won't spoil the plot details, but it's basically about an Everyman who takes over as president due to a set of strange circumstances, and does a tremendously better job at it than the man he replaces. Frankly, he's better than any real-world presidents we've had over my lifetime. Yes, I know the plot is kind of far-fetched, the politics are oversimplified and the ending is pure Hollywood. But it gives me a big lift every time I watch it. I think I might put on the video tonight.