Well, yes and no. You've got to remember that Ron Paul is indeed a fringe candidate. Socialist or not, people are demanding change from their government. Healthcare is getting expensive, people are running out of money, and they (unfortunately) only want to turn to government to make it better. The hurdle, as always, is congress and thankfully we can assume that much of what Obama and Edwards speak of likely wouldn't fly too well into the Senate. As for the house, well, thats a bit harder to predict...
Unfortunately, we as Republicans have to either adjust to the needs of the people or fade into oblivion. Its as easy as that. Bush has done a magnificent job of destroying all of what was good about our party, really a tragic case of what his administration could have been, and unfortunately was not. McCain is going to have to drift a bit more to the left if he wants more of the "average American" votes, I think, and may have to let up on the big-stick foreign policy a bit.
Its a mess. One hopes we don't have a repeat of 2000 all over again come November...
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I think my problem is that I've spent a lot of time looking at whats going on in this country, listening to some of the different candidates, and finding out that the answers aren't as easy as one would like. I'm far more moderate than what I was even a year ago, presumably because I've been so alienated by the stupidity of the GOP on almost every level. Maybe I'm in a unique position because I'm stuck in Michigan, where we've been in a constant recession since 1999/2000, and no one is giving us answers. Maybe its because I've finally got enough of an education and finally have the tools to rationalize what the hell the candidates are talking about... But I take a look at what say Romney talks about, and you automatically identity it as broken domestic and foreign policies. McCain certainly does a lot better, but I still don't think that what he talks about is enough to satisfy the change that is needed in our country. I'd love to have Ron Paul's ideals set the country on the right path, but in the state we're in now, its far too radical to work properly without a major shakeup of everything in the government... My heart completely agrees with him, rational thought does as well, but unfortunately the reality of the situation does not.
So what am I getting at?
Well, even I'm not sure. I think its important that we all collectively as Americans sit down and think about whats important not just to us, but collectively as a nation on this Earth. Issues like poverty, disease, and the struggle of the middle-class is something that I'm begining to deal with everyday, and I'm sure that would be very different by comparison to someone who lives in SoCal, Tennessee, or Maine. Keeping an open mind about the other guy down the street, or a small family three states away is whats important, not just your own self-interest.
That, unfortunately, is why I'm beginning to lean towards Obama. No, I personally don't like all of his policies, but I can see why they'd be more important to millions of other people beyond myself. Maybe that makes me a populist, I don't know, but I want to have a collective effort to make our country better... God knows we need it now.
. I like him. He's tough not to like. Still don't want him in the white house though - there's almost nothing about his policies that I like (except that they're better than Hillary's).
