Musings of a RINO

“In America, anybody can be president. That's one of the risks you take.”
-Adlai E. Stevenson

I don't normally blog about politics much. I'm not an expert in politics or anything. Admittedly, that doesn't stop a lot of other people from doing it—and making a lot of money doing it, in some cases. But to me, talking about politics is generally aggravating—almost as aggravating as listening to other people talk about it. Or reading about it on their blogs. So I don't typically get into it.

But there are always exceptions, and this is one of them. Don't worry; I'm not going to turn this blog into a forum for political discussion, inquiry, and debate. The fact is, I just don't care enough about politics most of the time to do that. But this is an extraordinary time. Perhaps even historic. So I'm doing it now.

First, a word about where I'm coming from. I describe myself as a right-leaning moderate. I am registered as a Republican, but I'm not devout in my political convictions. I don't think my Party has all the answers, and on some issues I wish they would listen to what the Democrats have to say. But I tend to think that smaller government is more effective than big government, so I'm registered as a Republican. Whether the Republican Party is really about smaller government anymore is a matter of some dispute, I suppose.

Hard-core Republicans have a name for people like me. They call us “Republicans In Name Only”, or RINOs.



It’s a term of derision—Sean Hannity, for example, used to call John McCain a RINO all the time, before he won the Republican nomination. But I suppose it fits, at least for some of us. Personally, I don't mind the term. It’s appropriate for me, because my loyalties are not to any/either Party but to my own principles. I try to vote for who and what are right, not necessarily who and what are on the Right.

I realize that my ideas about what is right are not necessarily going to be the same as anyone else's. And that's fine. We have a wide—almost impossibly wide—diversity of opinions, beliefs, values, and dreams in this nation. That's a good thing, by the way. It forces us to question, to search, to examine, and ultimately to decide. I feel that people who reside at either end of the political spectrum, who never question the validity and value of their tightly-held political beliefs, are either arrogant, deluded, or just not paying attention. I think they're missing out. If you want a country where everyone in the government thinks the way you do, well, the United States isn't the place for you. There are still a few countries out there like that, though. China, North Korea, Myanmar, and Cuba come to mind. Maybe Iran and Venezuela, too.

Anyway, enough pontificating. I'll be voting in a the morning, and for those who are interested, I'd like to share with you my thoughts on a few issues and candidates.

(Information provided by LeaveYourPrint.com, administered by the Office of the Lieutenant Governor.)

President
Baldwin, Charles O. "Chuck", Castle, Darrel (CONSTITUTION)
Barr, Bob, Root, Wayne A. (LIBERTARIAN)
La Riva, Gloria, Moses, Robert (UNAFFILIATED)
McCain, John, Palin, Sarah (REPUBLICAN)
McKinney, Cynthia, Clemente, Rosa (UNAFFILIATED)
Nader, Ralph, Gonzalez, Matt (UNAFFILIATED)
Obama, Barack, Biden, Joe (DEMOCRAT)

After everything I've written above, this pick is should come as no surprise. Do I believe McCain will win? Absolutely not. According to the latest set of state polls I saw, Obama is currently projected to receive 318 electoral votes, well in excess of the 270 he needs to win it. Sure, there's still a margin of error and several hours before all the votes are counted, but McCain will be lucky to break 200. Sorry, McCainiacs, but this thing is over. Barring something catastrophic, Barack Obama will be the next President of the United States. And strangely enough, I think it'll be okay.

U.S. Representative District 2
Arndt, Mathew (LIBERTARIAN)
Dew, Bill (REPUBLICAN)
Emery, Dennis Ray (CONSTITUTION)
Matheson, Jim (DEMOCRAT)

I don't expect this one to be particularly close, either. Matheson has the respect of a lot of people in the district, including a lot of Republicans. I think he's done a good enough job to get another two years.

Governor & Lieutenant Governor
Huntsman Jr., Jon M., Herbert, Gary R. (REPUBLICAN)
Schanze, "SUPERDELL" Dell , Hobbs, Joey (LIBERTARIAN)
Springmeyer, Bob, Valdez, Josie (DEMOCRAT)

I actually voted against Jon Huntsman when he ran for Governor in 2004. I voted for Democrat Scott Matheson, mostly because I was upset at how the Utah Republican Party treated then-Governor Olene Walker. As the incumbent, I thought she should have been the automatic Republican nominee. But she was too heavily invested in education, which makes the anti-UEA folks in the Republican Party skittish. So they held a round of primaries, which Walker lost as she went on with her job running the state. But I'm satisfied with how Huntsman has served for the last four years. Bob Springmeyer hasn't given me any reason to want him in office, and Dell Schanze is a wacko. I can't believe that polls are showing 2% of the people actually want him to be governor.

Representative District 28
Beck, Jared (CONSTITUTION)
King, Brian S. (DEMOCRAT)
Morrow, Jeffrey R. (REPUBLICAN)
Our prior Representative, Roz McGee, is retiring. Otherwise, I'd vote for her, no question. My pick here isn't quite firm, but it's the way I'm leaning right now. A lot of this is based on a mailer I received from the Morrow campaign. It talked about how school funding was diverted from the Salt Lake School District to the Jordan School District in the last term, and how McGee wasn't invited to the meeting where the decision was made because she wasn't a Republican. Morrow's claim was that we needed a Republican in District 28 so that we could have a voice in such matters. To my mind, it had exactly the opposite effect. It proves to me that there's too much "good old boy" politicking going on amongst the dominant Party on Capital Hill. It tells me we need more Democrats in the State Legislature, not fewer.

Constitutional Amendment C
Yes
No

There won't be many people who vote against this one, but I'm going to. It seeks to amend the State Constitution to allow the State Legislature to start its session on the fourth Monday in January instead of the third. The primary reason is that the third Monday is often Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Federal holiday or not, I think out state legislators ought to be working on that day specifically. Dr. King had a dream of a just and equitable society for all. I think it would behoove our legislators to be reminded that their job is to try to make that kind of a society possible.

County Council #4
Crockett, Mark (REPUBLICAN)
Iwamoto, Jani (DEMOCRAT)

Iwamoto has some interesting ideas and some impressive credentials, but I'm happy with the way Crockett has represented our area on the county council.

County Council At Large A
Debry, Steven L. (REPUBLICAN)
Horiuchi, Randy (DEMOCRAT)

Randy Horiuchi, long-time county council member, didn't even have a statement listed in the voter's guide this year. I don't know whether it was because he just forgot about it, or he was so busy that he missed the deadline, or he just didn't feel he had to bother with it. Whatever. It bugs me that he didn't get it done. Next!

County Proposition #1
For
Against

County Proposition #2
For
Against

These two Propositions involve bond issues: $19.6 million for the Tracy Aviary and $33 million for Hogle Zoo, respectively. I've been to both, and I've enjoyed them both. And frankly, I'm in favor of anything that increases local access to the arts, science, and culture. (It's like the old joke: What's the difference between Utah and yogurt? Yogurt has an active, living culture.)

The reasons for my choices are many and varied. Some are profound, some are petty, and some are little more than gut feelings. But I feel like I've done my due diligence on this year's election. When I go into the booth tomorrow morning, I'm not going to be staring at a bunch of names and issues I've never seen before. I've done what I can to be well-informed.

One final thought; not my own, but something written by one of the members of the Hero Games Discussion Boards, Bill. He puts it this way:

I'm a registered Republican, and have been for 20 years now. I still consider myself a Republican and a true conservative, despite the last 15+ years of the Socialist Evangelicals trying to steal the party (and the term) away from me. . . . I still hold out hope that the Republicans will someday return to their fiscally responsible, socially moderate roots. [Emphasis mine. -M] That's why I'm still a member of the party -- I want to vote for those types of candidates in the Primaries.

And that's pretty much all I've got for now.

I am the RINO. Goo Goo Ga Joob.