I came across a couple of columns this morning commenting on election endgame strategies with general disapproval. First up, Sheila Suess Kennedy, writing in the Indianapolis Star notes that the Republicans are going back to the homophobia well one more time. Energized by the New Jersey ruling that audaciously held that “denying commited same-sex couples the financial and social benefits given their married heterosexual counterparts bears no substantial relationship to a legitimate government purpose,” we have Republicans hyperventilating about the mortal peril this represents to not only heterosexual marriages but the very American way of life. Conveniently forgotten are lesser issues about troops dying in Iraq to no real purpose, the resurgent Taliban in Afghanistan, the profiteering of military contractors, the refusal of Congress to implement the the recommendations of the 9/11 commission, warrantless wiretaps of American citizens, the death of habeas corpus, etc. etc.
Meanwhile, specific to Indianapolis and on the other side of the political fence, Abdul sees gamesmanship in the Indy City County Council’s decision to investigate whether Carl Brizzi, Republican candidate for Marion County Prosecutor, misled the Council about jail overcrowding this summer. The subject of the investigation may be worthy, but the timing is suspicious. A week before the election, the Council gets interested about jail overcrowding. Perhaps they were, like Capt. Renault in Casablanca, “shocked, shocked” to find a jail overcrowding problem in Indianapolis. Abdul righteously demands to be plied with Brazilian strippers, good scotch whiskey, and a box of cigars and chocolate if he is expected to be manipulated in this fashion.
For my part, the only last minute antics that have gotten me even briefly agitated are the folks getting worked up about Kerry’s stumbling attempt at humor and the media that enables them. The only way you could say that John “Oh, did I ever mention I served in Viet Nam” Kerry thinks all soldiers are stupid is if you are horribly, horribly ignorant or a liar. And yet, people expressing that view were given hour after hour of cable news time. Liberal media, indeed.
At the end of the day, I’m mildly annoyed that my vote and Abdul’s vote and Sheila Suess Kennedy’s vote are all counted equally with the votes of those who are poorly informed enough that they can be swayed by last minute theatrics and campaign advertisements. I’m happy enough with a system where I can be outvoted. I only wish that the votes were better informed.