In a discussion of current politics among a group of my friends, one of the token conservatives of the group told the rest of us that he was sick of hearing about what an important and decisive election this was going to be. Decisive, maybe. Divisive, hell yeah. He noted (and lamented) that the political environment had become all about absolutes with this election: good/evil, black/white, right/wrong. Because he said all of this in response to a lengthy email of mine, I think he was trying to say that he thought Bush deserved support despite his mistakes in Iraq. I replied that I felt too many people were trying to make this election all about Iraq, and that if it were all about Iraq, I would have a tougher decision to make. Because, really. We're there already. Whoever has the con for the next four years has the job of figuring out our next moves there, not erasing what has happened already. I like prefer Kerry's notions of what should be done there to Bush's, but either of them would give the situation the attention it requires.

It's not all about Iraq, though, and that's why it was so easy for me to touch the Kerry/Edwards box [1] on the touch-screen voting machine this morning. There are other issues that matter to me just as much. I think Bush has been the disaster everyone expected as caretaker of the environment. I want a program that holds our schools accountable for each and every kid's progress to put its money where its mouth is. I want less money thrown at defense and more thrown at education. I think that gays should have all of the legal trappings of marriage if they want them, and that amending the constitution to prevent that is wrong, wrong, wrong. The list goes on.

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I dislike the way this election campaign has gone. It's not just the Bush side; Kerry and his team have really given me the creeps with the repetition of their assertion that they also plan to hunt down and kill the terrorists. In their beds. Like dogs in the street. Till they beg. Veins in their teeth. Etc. I find that kind of off-putting. And dragging out Cheney's daughter's during the discussion of gay marriage was stupid and pointless (I knew it was a bad move; how it is possible that he didn't??). Not horrible and evil, but pretty tactless.

But the Bush campaign has been filled with so many tactics and assertions that I find appalling, that it might be a long time before I can even consider what's good about a Republican candidate.

Number one problem: I am absolutely sick of being told that by not supporting the president, I spit upon our troops and their noble mission. That Kerry and those who support him are cowards and are going to let the terrorists murder us all in our beds. Veins in their teeth. Etc.

I respect the people in our military. I hate that the need for them exists, and I couldn't do their job over there. But I respect those who can do it, and who feel it's their calling. Do you hear me, Mr. President? I support our troops. I happen to think that the best way to do this is by not sending them to hot and dangerous places if we really don't have solid evidence of a threat from those places. Or the support of our valued and trusted allies. In the absence of those 2 things, I think the biggest props we can give our military is NOT putting them in harm's way. I believe that there were other, better ways to deal with Saddam Hussein, and that we had a real and concrete goal in Afghanistan and that we dropped the ball there in order to enter an ill-advised and ill-conceived war against Hussein. I don't see that as being disrespectful to the job our troops are doing. They didn�t decide to invade Iraq.

I would like to turn over the reins now to someone who sees that what we've done in Iraq is turn it into the new breeding ground for Islamic extremists who hate the U.S, and that it's not getting better there every day. I believe that we are going in the wrong direction and in that case, I do not see any virtue in "staying the course" or "sticking to my guns." These are words that Bush and his camp use to make him sound virtuous. He's dependable; he won't let you down because he STANDS BY HIS DECISIONS. But his decision, in this case, let us down. And so to stand by it... is the wrong thing to do. I believe it is time we try to make right some of the mistakes we have made.

I do not see why this makes me a coward. I do not see where that invites terrorists into my home and serves them crumb cake.

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Second problem: really really sick of hearing that if Kerry had his way, Saddam Hussein would still be in power. Get this through your head, Mr. President. No one thinks the world was a better place when he was in power. No one would disagree that apprehending him was a good thing. We just think it could have been handled much better than you handled it.

It's akin to the abortion debate. Have you noticed that your choices are "pro-choice" and "pro-life?" The implication is that if you are not pro-life, you must be anti-life. Or perhaps pro-abortion.

No one is pro-abortion, no one is anti-life. And no one is pro-Saddam, or anti-free-Iraq.

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I would be interested to know if any Kerry supporters were able to infiltrate a Bush rally. This hasn't gotten that much press, but I've heard numerous stories of ticket-holding people being turned away from Bush rallies because they wore a tiny little Kerry lapel pin, or a Kerry t-shirt under their jacket. When they asked why, they were collared and detained by the Secret Service. What is this, a political rally, or a KGB meeting??

The first time I heard about this was a story on NPR in which the Republican party claimed that Bush supporters were often turned away from Kerry rallies, too. They could only manage to produce one name, however, and that person did not wish to talk to NPR about it. There were plenty of Kerry supporters willing to tell their stories of being interrogated, though.

The Republican party should really. Really. Be embarrassed by this.

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