This post should make the majority of my friends happy.
My allegiance to a political party is not defined by any one big issue. Long-term readers know that I am Republican and that I acknowledge that I am a walking contradiction. But I'll not get into the reasons why I am what I am. The point of this post is to say that I have made my decision regarding the governorship of Michigan.
A few nights ago, a letter arrived from the Dick DeVos campaign. It was asking for our support in the form of a check. Then in my email recently, was a letter from President Bush urging me to vote for Republicans. I was thoroughly pissed off. I may be in line with many of Dick's ideas but given that he was a driving force behind Proposal 2, I am more than happy to kick him to the curb.
So I guess I've jumped ship over the gay issue. But that's not the only thing that bothered me about DeVos. He has been unwilling to disclose his taxes. While not a crime, all the other candidates have. He has been elected to office only once-- The Michigan State Board of Education but quit after two years. He was given an appointment by then Gov. Engler to the Grand Valley University Board of Control and once again quit. How does this make me think that he will be committed to the office?
I don't like Granholm too much. She hasn't gotten much done but I will give her some credit because of opposition from the Republicans that control both houses of the the state legislature. Yet, Michigan is one messy state. According to the polls, it looks like she may lose in November. I agonize whether I should continue with Gov. Granholm or take a huge and uncomfortable risk with DeVos. I'll stick with the enemy I know. I will be voting for Governor Jennifer Granholm in November.
8 comments:
Yay! Don't vote for people who think you're a second class citizen.
Scottish views on the intricacies of American party politics aside, are there specific issues that either candidate endorses, (or opposes), that make one or the other more attractive to you?
I didn't realize that you and I shared a party. I don't blindly vote for the candidate of one party or another, but I also won't be bullied into submission by the Gay Mafia telling me how to think, act, vote, and breathe.
There are all kinds of Republicans, all kinds of Democrats, all kinds of Libertarians (although most of them are nuts), and I applaud you for being strong enough to look at the individual platform of a candidate -- and how he or she interprets affiliation with his or her party at large.
Rudy Giuliani and Trent Lott are both Republicans; Hillary Clinton and Zell Miller are both Democrats. Yet each represent vastly differing wings of their own political parties.
The easy answers are too easy.
You will exercise sagacity and patience and make the correct choices. Always.
It's great that politics are discussed - and that you're actually turning out to vote. I know turnouts are low in the USA and they have become increasingly poor over here. I'm more concerned that people vote at all than who they're voting for.
It's fabulous!
Minge: I don't care if people think if I am second class citizen. Heck, I may vote for them as I will probably do for the incumbant state representative for my disctrict. (I've presonally worked with him and know him.) But the thing with DeVos is that he actively and agressively goes after gays. Proposal 2 which he heavily funded, didn't just solidify Michigan's current law which defined marriage as being between a man in a woman. Proposal 2 went further than that. It targeted "similar unions" which affects current parternship benefits (which had been offered though some state contracts) and any proposals for civil unions and additional benefits.
And I am proud to say that I have never missed a vote. :-)
PJS: I'll be general here. What basically tips me over to the Republicans are economic and defense issues with a little philosphy thrown in. Hmm, maybe I should make a post about this sometime and go into more detail.
For this particular race, (and let's ignore DeVos's position towards gays for the moment) I am not convinced that DeVos can preform as a Governor. While his platform sounds good, it lacks specifics. Nothing new, I know. I don't want to bore you with Michigan politics, but the Single Business Tax is a huge issue this year. DeVos wants to eliminate it. Governor Granholm asks the pefectly reasonable quiestion, where will he get the money to replace the lost revenue? The state already has money problem. I don't want to make the situation worse without a game plan. And like I said in my post, his past behavior in state office is not encouraging whereas Jennifer Granholm has gone through a lot of crap from the opposition and has shown a lot of commitment to the state even if I haven't agreed with a lot of what she has done such as cutting the Merit scholarship for students.
If I remember right, I believe I found you through Another Gay Republican.
Brian: Thanks for the vote of confidence. I just hope for a little luck that Granholm would do better in her second term than her first. Michigan is not doing well.
Just as we shouldn't define people except on their merit, I don't think you are a walking contra-indication because of your affiliation with the Republican party. I too am a Republican, I always have been, always will be. I like their conservative views.
I just love that we're having a political discussion, here. I've tried talking politics with Americans before, and they were either coy about it or felt uncomfortable. I really know very little about the Republican and Democrat parties and what they get up to, day to day. This is very refreshing. Thank you, guys.
How is that I'm running into gay Republicans here on the net and yet I never see them here at home?
Minge: I can't speak for the Americans you have tried to talk politics with, but I tend to shy away from it--especially with foreigners. I am aware that world-wide opinion and more importantly, European opinion, of America is not great. So I would prefer to not to make any existing relationship worse by getting into a debate as to why America is this evil empire or why it isn't.
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