So I have a confession to make, to all my Kossack friends here.
I'm not a true believer.
It's true, I'm not. I'm a social liberal, but center-right on economics.
So why am I here? That's a remarkably good question. If y'all will follow me south of the orange croissant, I'll share some thoughts.
Let me start by giving you the short answer to why I'm here. It's not unexpected, or in any way original, but it's mine. And if I ramble, I'm in IT. English sometimes feels like a second language, so please forgive me.
The Republican party has gone off the deep end. Utterly, ferociously, unequivocally batshit insane. They have forgotten, on the whole, that there's a difference between being elected and governing.
But Doug, you may say, doesn't saying that make you a Democrat?
It does. And in fact, I've never voted for a Republican presidential candidate. I have, however, been known to vote for Republicans for local and state office.
I'm from Indiana, and for a while in there, I was one of the few, the occasionally proud, Lugar Democrats. I appreciated his work on foreign policy and disarmament, along with his willingness to work across the aisle on the big issues. I was also really disappointed in his last term, because he became less willing to be realistic as time went on, but that's a different discussion.
Truth be told, I haven't been super impressed with a lot of what the current administration brought to the table. I've not been angry, just not thrilled either. Had the Republicans nominated someone from the ever shrinking sane portion of their party, I might have thought longer about it. (Yes, I'm looking at you Huntsman).
I guess another way to look at it is this. I'm a Democrat. I've become more of a Democrat over the last 5 years or so. Not necessarily because of my beliefs, but because the political spectrum has changed around me. I'm still the same traditional centrist that I always have been, but when one half of the political spectrum is doing it's utmost to focus on the wingnuts, I become more Democrat by default.
I'm voting for Barack Obama. I did last time, and I will this time. He'll lose my state, but he'll still get my vote. I admit, however, to wondering, like I did in this diary, if it's a vote FOR him, or AGAINST the rabid insanity of the right.
And frankly, I don't know the answer to that question.
And since I know it'll come up in comments, here's an idea of where I sit on the spectrum.
I'm pro-choice.
I'm worried about the deficit
I'm pro-legalization of pot
I'm anti-food police
I'm for alternative energy
If there's a chance stem cells can cure diseases, then I'm for doing the research.
I'm for getting rid of oil/gas subsidies.
I'm definitely part of the 99%
I'm pro-gun (within reason)
I don't like the ACA, but feel it's 1000 times better than what we had prior.
I'm at least moderately curious about the idea of a national sales tax.
I believe our military is much larger than it needs to be.
I think we could take a lot of the active duty service men and women, and transition them into Americorps or the Peace Corps, and do some serious good in the world, and moreso on our own shores.
I want to be an idealist, but I'm not.