Party Politics

In the post-election hand-wringing that has been going on since Wednesday morning, I have been hearing a lot about the "mistakes" that the Republicans made. It is amazing how many experts can tell the party why they lost but none of them seemed to be able to tell them how to win!

As a voter with no party affiliation, let me make a few suggestions that the pundits seem to have missed - at least from the experts I have been hearing.

1) Remember: You Cannot Legislate Morality!

Forget it! It has never worked. Think: "Prohibition!" The moment you try to try to tell people what is and what is not acceptable behavior, you lose them. Keep your nose out of my private life. Ask yourself these questions: "Am I personally involved in _____? Does ____ directly impact me? Can ____ cause direct physical harm to me?" If the answer to any of the above is "yes" then talk to me... if not and the only reason you want to keep me (or someone else from doing ____ is that your religion tells you it is a sin), you have no business telling anyone that they can't do it. This is not a theocracy. We were founded on religious freedom. You have your right to have your personal beliefs, you have your right to discuss your personal beliefs, you do not have the right to impose your beliefs on anyone else! So here's the deal. I won't go out of my way to oppress your rights and beliefs, don't go out of your way to deprive me of mine.

2) Practice A Little Restraint!

Be fiscally conservative. Remember: It's my money you are spending. If we can't afford it, we can't afford it. Let's not leave tons of debt to our grandchildren. eventually enough is enough!

3) Encourage Responsible Behavior!

Let's try and not burn the planet to a cinder before the end of the century! This is, for the moment, the only planet we have. Can we practice a little stewardship? I'm not even saying you have to believe in man-made global climate change. There are enough reasons not to pollute the planet or be wasteful without believing in it. General consensus amongst the scientific community says it is real, but if it makes you uncomfortable, think about it this way instead: There is not an infinite supply of anything on this planet. The planet is of a finite size. Let's try and save some of the resources for tomorrow. Spending your entire paycheck on payday makes the rest of the pay cycle a bit hungry, doesn't it?

4) Don't Play Me For Stupid!

Look: The dumbest animal will eventually learn. If you kick it every time it walks up to you, it will eventually stop walking up to you. Don't tell me during the election that you're an agent of change unless you actually have plans to change something. Oh, and despite what the president seems to think, we all know that simply repeating something over and over does not make it true. (I'm a maverick! I'm a maverick! I'm a maverick! I'm a maverick! I'm a maverick! I'm a maverick! I'm a maverick!)

5) Quit Pandering!

You cannot possibly give everything to everyone. It is the nature of society that in times of plenty we all share in the boon, in lean times, we all tighten our belts. A rising tide lifts all boats. If taxes need to go up, tell me. I expect, however that they will go up for everyone... Not just a select few. 

In short, I guess I can sum this up by saying be less like, well, like you seem to have been for quire a few years. return to your historic stance as the party of fiscal responsibility and get off the crusade that you got on to court the religious right. If you can't, well... any third party out there who can may find that a number of those of us in the center who are disgusted with the current two party system would be willing to listen.

Wherever you are today, I hope that you will have an excellent day - but not at the expense of anyone else!

Don Bergquist - November 07, 2008 - Lakewood, Colorado, USA