I knew Obama was showing some heat in the Democratic circles, but I wasn't quite sure I believed he was electable. I'd certainly vote for him, but I wasn't sure he could reach any kind of centrist or Republican-leaning base, which any candidate is going to need going into this next contentious election year.
But it turns out that he's polling third in the Iowa GOP caucuses. That's interesting, and it suggests a glimmer of hope, that maybe there are people out there who will vote for someone who shows youth and idealism, rather than just political pragmatism and the many scars of having battled their way into the political process for years and years at a time.
I don't know that Obama is my ideal candidate, but then, I don't think there is an ideal candidate for me. A recent rundown of candidate positions that was linked off Boing Boing showed me that Dennis Kucinich was the closest match, but he's definitely not a guy I see as real electable, and I've never particularly connected with him as a candidate before. But based on this, and seeing Obama face down Hilary Clinton over special interests (her defense of lobbyists turned my stomach, and pretty much put me off her completely... I'd been wary before, but that was pretty indicative of how much of a political insider she is) makes me think he's the guy I want to support in this election.
Unless MODOK runs as an independent. Because really, who doesn't want a giant telepathic head in the Oval Office?
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6 comments:
Gah!
I really need to get caught up on research for this.
I voted Democrat last election, but I'm sure that I will this election.
Are you strictly Democrat, Randy? Or have you ever voted Republican?
I'm not so much strictly Democrat as strictly *not* Republican. :)
Had McCain somehow gotten onto the ticket back in 2000, I might have voted for him over Gore (I voted for Nader... whoops), but now that I see how much of a political opportunist he is, I'm fairly sure I would have regretted it.
Both parties are too deep into corporate and special interests for my tastes, but the general Democratic position on such things as gay rights, social security, the use of our military, national healthcare, minimum wage and separation of religion and state is mostly closer to mine than Republicans.
I agree with you. Democrats are the lesser of the two evils. Actually in my opinion by far lesser. In short the republicans believe in trickle up economics and the democrats believe in trickle down economics. 90% of the wealth belongs to less than 10% off the people. Minimum wage is obscene. Commercial real estate prices and rent are obscene (atl east here in MA. Businesses are continually going out of business because of high rents, because of the land owners. I've always thought at least two things had to be done to rectify the situation. (1) raise minimum wage to about $25 an hour and limit commercial real estate inflation to 1 1/2%. This would really put a squeeze on the wealthy and create mor balance. It's common sense really. I don't really blame the rich though, anyone in their position would do the same. The government is failing us, because big business buys off the poloticians. The democrats, because they don't represent big business, get a fraction of the money the republicans do in election. Totally unfair. To tell you the truth I think it's just plain disgusting. Any way, that's my two cents.
Wartortle (yeah it's a pokemon character)
By the way Randy, I've been silently following you since your days in psicomics. Your the best reviewer on the net. Don't agree with everything, but you know quality. One criticism. You usaully don't stick with a property. Lot's of times you get tired of it, like SIP.
I've always thought at least two things had to be done to rectify the situation. (1) raise minimum wage to about $25 an hour and limit commercial real estate inflation to 1 1/2%. This would really put a squeeze on the wealthy and create mor balance.
Yikes. Honestly, $25/hour is more than double what I make as a new business owner. If I had to pay all my employees that rate, I couldn't run the business.
That's the thing... minimum wage can kill small business, that's why you have to be careful with it. Otherwise, you drive everyone who isn't a corporation out of business, and then we're all "working for the man." :)
But I don't pay my guys minimum wage. I pay them above it, because the minimum wage isn't where it needs to be. But there are reasons that wages aren't at a point where, say, everyone working 40 hours a week makes at least $20K a year.
The democrats, because they don't represent big business, get a fraction of the money the republicans do in election.
Don't kid yourself... the Democrats may not be completely in big business' pocket, but they're as influenced by corporations as anyone. Look at Hilary Clinton's stance on special interest groups, where she actually outright says that some of them represent corporations (and she doesn't seem to see anything wrong with this), and you can see that, especially as concerns the party "operators" there's plenty of corporate influence there.
By the way Randy, I've been silently following you since your days in psicomics. Your the best reviewer on the net. Don't agree with everything, but you know quality.
Thanks! I'm not being humble here, I swear, but I don't actually think I'm the best reviewer on the net. I'd give that to Graeme McMillan at Fanboy Rampage, Chris Sims at Chris Invincible Super-Blog or Paul O'Brien at X-Axis. If you're not reading their stuff, I definitely recommend it. But I do appreciate the kind words, sincerely.
One criticism. You usaully don't stick with a property. Lot's of times you get tired of it, like SIP.
I don't think that's entirely fair. I mean, I did fall off SIP (after many years, it wasn't a flighty decision) because I didn't think it was living up to its potential. But I read books for as long as I think they're good. I've been reading Fables since the beginning, and don't really see myself dropping off, for example. I don't believe in reading something because I once loved it... I need to still enjoy it. Everyone's allowed a bad issue or two, but if three or four issues go by and I'm not onboard, it's time to take a break, maybe a permanent one. There are too many great comics out there to waste time on mediocre ones that used to be good. :)
Edit: Actually, Graeme *was* Fanboy Rampage, now he's at Blog@Newsarama and Savage Critics.
I don't want what I'm about to say taken the wrong way. I'll start off by saying that I'm on disability and NOT rich and have thought many times about moving down south including TX, because quite frankly it's just as nice from my visits, but a lot more affordable.
I'm going to guess that the environment in Texas is similar to what MA was like in the early 1990's or something. I've seen pictures of your beautiful store Rogues Gallery, and I'll tell you somehting, that store in any town close to Boston would fetch four of five thousand a month in rent. You heard me four or five thousand. Business around here go out of business easily. It's the norm. Only coffee houses really survive and the big names like Staples and Home Depot. My two family house which I purchased before I got sick (thank god) is worth close to $500,000. Back in 94 I paid only $138,000 for it so I can affor it now. If I didn't buy it I'd be in deep shit. $25.00 an hour is not that much when you want to buy house that costs at least $400,000. The general rule is that when buying a house you can afford two and a half times your salary. A person making $25.00 makes about $50,000 a year. Two and a half times $50,000 is $125,000. Even if a husband and wife both make that kind of money you still have a shortfall of $150,000. I'm not shitting you the minimum price for a house is about $400,00 and I'm not even in an expensive town. What are people suppose to do. This probably hasn't happened in Austin yet, but this is the reality of MA, NY, CA and many other states. Like I said Austin is beautiful, I've seen pictures, but it's still resonable. I've even priced houses ther on the net in the past. My advice to you is to buy a piece of commercial real estate in the Austin area before what happened around here happens to you.
Regards,
Wartortle
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