There's a kind of political meiosis happening, in which both parties get stupider, and independents are tired of being bombarded by half-brained idiocy.
‘But the reality of it is both candidates need to lose. Squaring that reality with the fact that one of them is going to have to win is like trying to decide whether to see a shaman or a medical school dropout to have your cancer treated. You might live, but not because you received proper care. Better not to think too hard about it.‘
"None of this is good news to independents. It’s no wonder many don’t really want to apply much thought to the presidential, or any other, election, because doing so is subjecting oneself to a barrage of stupidity and abominable distortion. Thinking clearly is hard enough without wading into the pool of lies and half-truths."
Is this an election where a lot of thought IS required? We have two men who have each served 4 years as POTUS running against each other. Voters lived through both men's terms, and we pretty-well know what we're going to get. We're not being asked to speculate how 2025-2029 might turn out - it's going to be an awful rerun in either case.
Given that we have two presidents running against each other, there's not much to campaign about other than to highlight where your guy did well and slam the other guy's mistakes. As soon as Trump won the nomination, I didn't need to put any more thought into who I was pulling the lever for, and I'm sure there are others who made their decisions in the other direction at the same time.
Interesting read and comments Steve, Jay. Like you Curtis, a new word for sure.
What i find curious, dare i say disingenuous is this: One man caused the three of you (Steve, Jay and David) to walk away from the party you played a role in supporting. It appears you all fall squarely in the camp of newly minted "independent" voters. Kudos to you for running from trump.
On the other hand, as a life long democrat, i cringed in 2019/2020 as i listened to Bernie and Elizabeth screech about the pivot the democrats needed to make. As an old person, they scared me with their agenda. In the end, moderation won out and a guy who had been main-stream middle of the road work across the aisle all his life won the day and the election.
While i get his policies aren't your cup of tea, normalcy and norms are the order of the day. We worked through the crushing pandemic and in comparison to most other countries, we came out better for it. What am i missing?
Interesting perspective. I especially liked your “dumbassery” turn of phrase. If you don’t mind I think I would like to add that to my own personal repertoire 😊.
Thanks. I learned a new word. The article is spot on. I believe we are in this mess largely due to the focus on Donald Trump for the last seven years. The pundit choices for GOP nominee were never going to excite the base. The candidates who might have were deemed to be authoritarian and were constantly under attack because the media and Trump haters believed Mr. Trump would be a sure loser.
This says it all
‘But the reality of it is both candidates need to lose. Squaring that reality with the fact that one of them is going to have to win is like trying to decide whether to see a shaman or a medical school dropout to have your cancer treated. You might live, but not because you received proper care. Better not to think too hard about it.‘
"None of this is good news to independents. It’s no wonder many don’t really want to apply much thought to the presidential, or any other, election, because doing so is subjecting oneself to a barrage of stupidity and abominable distortion. Thinking clearly is hard enough without wading into the pool of lies and half-truths."
Is this an election where a lot of thought IS required? We have two men who have each served 4 years as POTUS running against each other. Voters lived through both men's terms, and we pretty-well know what we're going to get. We're not being asked to speculate how 2025-2029 might turn out - it's going to be an awful rerun in either case.
Given that we have two presidents running against each other, there's not much to campaign about other than to highlight where your guy did well and slam the other guy's mistakes. As soon as Trump won the nomination, I didn't need to put any more thought into who I was pulling the lever for, and I'm sure there are others who made their decisions in the other direction at the same time.
Yes independent does not always equate with undecided.
The Dispatch refers to “disaffected” voters. That might be a more apt term.
Interesting read and comments Steve, Jay. Like you Curtis, a new word for sure.
What i find curious, dare i say disingenuous is this: One man caused the three of you (Steve, Jay and David) to walk away from the party you played a role in supporting. It appears you all fall squarely in the camp of newly minted "independent" voters. Kudos to you for running from trump.
On the other hand, as a life long democrat, i cringed in 2019/2020 as i listened to Bernie and Elizabeth screech about the pivot the democrats needed to make. As an old person, they scared me with their agenda. In the end, moderation won out and a guy who had been main-stream middle of the road work across the aisle all his life won the day and the election.
While i get his policies aren't your cup of tea, normalcy and norms are the order of the day. We worked through the crushing pandemic and in comparison to most other countries, we came out better for it. What am i missing?
Interesting perspective. I especially liked your “dumbassery” turn of phrase. If you don’t mind I think I would like to add that to my own personal repertoire 😊.
Thanks. I learned a new word. The article is spot on. I believe we are in this mess largely due to the focus on Donald Trump for the last seven years. The pundit choices for GOP nominee were never going to excite the base. The candidates who might have were deemed to be authoritarian and were constantly under attack because the media and Trump haters believed Mr. Trump would be a sure loser.
What will independents do if reminded that a vote for Biden is, in reality, a vote for Kamala?