Who am I kidding?

Yesterday's Buzzword of the Day was "undecided voter". It's all we've heard for about three months now. Everyone's talking about what the undecided voters are going to do in a few weeks. Then again are there any REALLY undecided voters out there? Buzzwack is running the following poll:

Which kind of Undecided voter are you?

a. I'm actually voting for Bush, but don't want
anyone to know
b. I'm actually voting for Kerry, but don't want
anyone to know
c. I'm totally clueless, don't really intend to
vote at all and I don't want anyone to know
d. I'm just one of those folks who can't make up
their mind about anything until the last
possible minute. And I always regret my
decisions later.

The point being that if neither of the candidates have turned you off yet, you aren't paying attention... and likely still aren't paying attention, and don't plan to start. It's a funny poll. Option A hits home though... Option B while there for the sake of balance, probably won't get much play. Which brings me to my irritation for the day...

A friend of mine (a Democrat and likely Kerry/Edwards voter) had a practical joke played on him the other day by his co-workers. They snuck into the parking lot and put a Bush/Cheney sticker on his car. So at the end of the day he heads home unaware of the presence of the sticker. On his way home several fellow drivers decided it was their solemn duty to pull up next to him and yell obscenities and make rude gestures. Why? because he had a Bush/Cheney sticker on his car? Now if this was an isolated incident I'd let it go, but it isn't. I know two other individuals with Bush '04 stickers on their cars who have encountered similar abuse on the road. Is this voter itimidation? How immature can a person be to verbally attack another person because of his political beliefs? I'm not talking about free speech here... I'm talking about abusive, personal attacks on individuals... by people who fancy themselves "intellectuals" or "compassionate" or "sensative." I few days ago I posted about the riot at the Florida GOP headquarters in which Democrats broke in, vandalized the office and attacked the volunteers inside. What gives? Is there anyone out there with a Kerry/Edwards sticker on their car or a sign in their yard that is genuinely afraid of Bush suporters vandalizing or attacking them? I doubt it, but I'd love to hear some tales from the left side... if you have them.

So am I an undecided voter? I can't say that I am... I wanted to be. I have my problems with both parties. I am a fair voter I choose carefully and not based on partisan ideology. I'd never voted Republican until last year and the reason for that has largely been the Democratic supporters. I just can't believe the intolerance and hatred coming from these people... people who I had always thought were kind and caring people. People with level heads who could be counted on for rational thought... gone. In their places, I now find irrationally terrified people who hate anyone who doesn't agree with them. Hatred... really, like key your car, or set your lawn on fire hatred. The kind of xenophobic paranoia you expect from a KKK rally. It's just insane. So I can't, with a clear conscience, vote for a party that is promoting this kind of mentality. I don't care how important the election is... this sort of neo-McCarthyism is disgusting. The mob must not rule in the United States. Republicans have plenty of faults and are as misguided as the Democrats on many issues, but at least you can reason with them.

Here in Kentucky we have a Republican governor for the first time in like 20 years. Ernie Fletcher was our (Lexington/Fayette County's) Congressional Representative until last year. He got my vote because every time I wrote to him as a Congressman, he wrote back... and he usually gave some indication that my letter or email had been read or at least acknowledged by opinion in some way. I've written to a lot of Senators and Congressman over the years and though many Republican politicians don't listen to or ignore my opinions, they at least acknowledge that I have one, even if it's contrary to their own. When I write to Democratic politicians, I rarely get a response unless I am a constituent and even then, they have either clearly ignored my opinion and sent me some stupid form letter telling me that my opinion matters to them and that they will steadfastly continue to do the exact opposite of what I was saying in the letter and hope that this will ensure my continued support. I've had to laugh at some of these letters... If I write about a stupid copyright law, for example, and tell them why I think it's a bad idea... they'll write back and tell me that they understand my concerns about protecting copyrights and that they are going to support this law to help protect them. Which is exactly the opposite of what I had written. I keep thinking, if your going to blow off my opinion, at least realize what it is first...

For years, I've doggedly assumed that it is the "conservatives" in the U.S. who are too closed minded and old-fashioned. But the last election fiasco and the upcoming election have really opened my eyes a lot. I never thought I'd be afraid of librals or Democrats but they've stepped up from provocative discussion to out and out violence and suppression of thought. It's not enough to try to convince people your opinions are correct, if all else fails attack them... make them afraid to think differently. In this election we have two choices... we can vote for Kerry and let the "intellectual (liberal) elite" think for us, or we can vote for Bush who is often wrong, but who will at least entertain opposition and let us think for ourselves.

So, with three weeks left... I suppose it's time to come out of the closet and start being openly decided. I'm voting against the thought police, against the mob, against protectionism, and against media corruption. I'm not really voting for anyone though... that's how screwed up this whole process has gotten. That I have to vote against someone just because their supporters are NUTZ!