I'm not big on discussing politics. There are many reasons for this.
- You will be interrupted while making an important point causing your argument to be missed - "The problem with that approach to education..." "VOUCHERS WORK!". Thank you, I think perhaps you should respect me enough to listen to my point.
- Your assertion will be interpreted in such a way as to be different than what you mean - "I think there should be serious discussion regarding universal healthcare." "Socialized medicine sucks." I wasn't talking about socialized medicine.
- Evidence will be offered to refute a claim that is anecdotal and/or completely without detail to allow a critical analysis - "No they tried that in this one district I think in Nevada and it failed completely."
- All news organizations boil information down to a "soundbite" so that a complex question cannot be meaningfully answered by the candidates. "This is an important issue that necessarily needs careful consideration. I intend to take a strong stance on this."
- Blatantly untrue information being passed as fact. "Barach Obama is a Muslim"....uhm, no he isn't. From what I can tell, he never was (I was taken in by this, even though it didn't matter to me).
"I know yer opponent molests children, smells bad and assassinates nuns, what I want to know is how are you going to end the war in Iraq with honour, fight terrorism, end global warming, balance the budget, reduce the national debt and reduce the bureaucracy's footprint without pixie dust or a magic wand?"
The thing traditional media doesn't realize is that people are only as stupid as they are permitted to be. This is the only way that we are going to move away from the candidates which are nothing more than the "Giant Douche" and the "Turd Sandwich".
I've heard tell that the internet can change that, I want to know where this info is....I'd like to hear fact and not an uninformed analyst's opinion, the candidate's opinion. (That's right, Mr. Limbaugh and Mr. Moore, I don't care what you think - you are both assholes.)
OK, back to the fluff....
2 comments:
for candidate's actual interviews: Youtube
The candidate websites typically offer position papers on any number of topics.
Michael Barone is the best guy to check for political trends. If you want stattistical analysis of how the Hispanic influx is changing sewer bond referenda, he's the man.
For the Dems, Daily Kos or The Huffington Post. I'm not sure wheer Mickey Kaus falls, but I like him.
I read a lot of libertarians like Glen Reynolds (Instapundit), Eugene Volokh (Volokh Conspiracy) and those whacky Brits over at Samizdata.
For conservatives, you can always listen to Rush or Boortz. Boortz has a decent website. More up my alley is Power Line.
The League of Women Voters also puts out some pretty good overviews of the candidates and their positions. It's kinda the Cliff Notes version of going through all the candidates different white papers and whatnot.
Best of luck to you in find a candidate!
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