Politics ... shudder ...

Anyone who knows me well knows I really don't like to talk politics.  I don't get why negative campaigning works and I can't stand what it turns people into.  Then when the candidates drop out and immediately endorse a previous opponent, it just seems so insincere and a huge game.

Do you think it will ever matter what qualifications a candidate has, rather than what he or she thinks his or her opponent can't do?  I can't remember the last time I heard any candidates tell me what they can do for me; instead, they spend so much time slamming their opponents that I never know what they themselves stand for.

I long for a serious candidate who wants to serve the country, to do the right thing for the country.  Instead, for the last several elections, I've found myself asking who is the less of two evils - how can that be right? 

It is ridiculous for either party to blame the other for the country's current situation.  I hear blame against Obama, but look what he inherited.  Okay, I give you that he should have waited a couple of terms before he ran - a Freshman legislator can't know that he is stepping into - but he didn't cause the current economy, no matter what anyone says.  I just don't think he knows how to improve it -- and really, who does?  It's like losing weight  - it takes time to gain it, and longer to lose it.  And let's face it, the three years Mr. Obama has been in office hasn't allowed time to heal the 8 years it took to break it.

Not that Mr. Bush was to blame either.  While I don't agree with many of the ways he dealt with things, he didn't cause them and again, no one could have known how to fix them.  It's sort of like parenthood, I'd guess -- you do what you know at the time.

This weekend we are spending time in Portland with dear friends from Vancouver, BC and as often happens, the subject of Politics has come up.  It was interesting to learn that Canada's election process takes 6 weeks - yes, weeks!  Okay, so think of the millions of dollars spent on American elections over the year or so they take and what it would mean if that were cut down exponentially - hey, that represents a good chunk of the national debt.

I am already sick of the process for the 2012 election, and we still have over 9 months to go.  At this rate, I'm going to be too uninformed to vote - unless they change it to the best candidate NOT to vote for, in which case, I still couldn't make a decision. 

And it makes me feel stupid.