Stone Pigs

Posted By Alan Partis on October 17, 2008

It seems to me that the process of campaigning serves mostly to confuse people — perhaps on purpose. Choosing who to vote for is actually the product of a very simple equation.

Democrat = more liberal, less conservative
Republican = less liberal, more conservative

If you, the voter, agree with conservatism, then you vote for the Republican candidate.  This is not to suggest that all Republicans are conservative, but the likelihood is greater with a Republican than a Democrat.

If you, the voter, agree with liberalism, then you vote Democrat.

So the real question is for individual voters to have enough of a clue about themselves to know how to vote.  To help those confused voters, the answer can be found by examining these questions:

1. Who should be MOST responsible for YOUR well being?

a) you and/or your family
b) government or everyone else in society

If you answer ‘a’, then you are conservative and should vote Republican.
If you answer ‘b’ then you don’t believe in personal responsibility and will find Democrats more to your liking.

2. Should government control/regulate the marketplace and actually own the businesses that operate therein?

a) yes, more government regulation and ownership
b) no, get government out of the way to the extent possible

If you answer ‘a’ you would be happy to live in China or France.
If you answer ‘b’ then you are conservative and should vote Republican.

3. Do you believe in forcing the redistribution of wealth by taking it from those who have earned it and giving it to those who have not?

a) no, it’s my money to do with as I see fit
b) yes, those nasty rich people only keep it under their mattresses anyway

If you answer ‘a’ then you are conservative and should vote Republican.
If you answer ‘b’ don’t tell your boss.

Once we get to a general election campaign, the choices are really very simple.  Democrats will generally move the society in the direction of socialism and communism.  Republicans will move the society in the direction of freedom and capitalism. It’s very simple.

Unfortunately, the personalities and records of the particular candidates get too much attention, etc.  The only questions I care to see debated once we’re past the primary stage are those related to the differences between liberalism and conservatism.  During the primary stages, the focus should be on the candidates themselves so they can prove to the Party members who is the candidate that best reflects the Party philosophy.  Anything else after that is just noise.

The reason that the media is doing an anal exam of ‘Joe the Plumber’ is that they want to distract people from the stunning answer that Obama gave him: “I want to redistribute your wealth.”

If McCain simply focused on that, and that alone, from here to the election, he’d win handily.  End of story.  Very few people, with the exception of many bitter welfare recipients, actually believe it’s the government’s job to redistribute wealth.

Category: Conservatism and Liberalism, Elections
Tags: Elections, politics