Walking for President in 2012

Well, I have decided that if you are completely fed-up with the candidate selections available and just want to write some person’s name in on the ballot in 2012, I am willing to be “that guy.”  I know, it’s a big commitment to be the person that stands to attract approximately 4.7 votes (no that is not in millions.  It is literally “4 and 7 tenths” votes). Some analysts say I am rounding up significantly.

WALKING
I am obviously not running for President.  Let’s face it, I am out of shape and it takes a insane budget.  In fact, if I had the budget to run for President, I wouldn’t run because that would be such a waste of money, that I would instead spend that same money towards at least TRYING to make progress on the ideologies that would move our country and our species beyond its current patterns of silliness. Besides, how would I stop to smell the flowers and watch people flip each other off if I was running – walking gives me time to soak it all in.

D-PLATFORM
From what I can tell so far, the Democrats are going to reuse the message of “hope” and “yes we can” to energize their people, but then the last 4 years of “yes I can” cost an awful lot of money, and I am not seeing the results… where are the jobs? why are houses still priced through the roof? Why can’t normal people get a loan at those “supposedly super low interest rates”? Just more proof that the government’s job is to govern, not to provide.  Maybe we should go back and read that pesky Constitution – I am admittedly a bit rusty on it.

R-PLATFORM
On the other hand, Republicans are going to reuse the message of “be scared” and “don’t vote for that guy.”  One might say, “hey geniuses, that campaign LOST you the race last time.  What are you thinking??”  But think about Wily E. Coyote.  Did he ever take the time to refine his approach? No! He was always trying something different.  Maybe if he had just tried the refrigerator with skis ONE MORE TIME, it could’ve worked. That’s what we have going on – the Republicans are just fine-tuning their message of fear, so as to make it more effective in 2012.

THOSE ARE PLATFORMS?
Really, neither of those campaigns is what I would consider to be a “platform.”  Where are the SPECIFICS of what the candidates are going to do? Oh, they don’t talk about those because as any analyst would tell you, committing to specifics during a race only stands to lose you votes, so the more vague and touchy-feely the campaign, the likelier it is to appeal to a broader set of voters.  That says something about us voters, and the belief in our ability to make educated choices…doesn’t it?

MY PLATFORM
So what would be my platform? Hello…did you read how this works? I am not supposed to tell you, so you can feel better about it! Seriously, I would do my best to remove my platform from the decision process.  That’s right, I think the people of the country should run their country.  Don’t get me wrong, we are a Republic, not a Democracy, if you read the fine print. But there are ways to represent people better (much MUCH better).  I think that would be one leg of my platform – to return the government to its people (with that, of course, would come some civic duty).  Another leg would be eliminating the national debt. A buddy of mine and I kicked around this idea.  Poor idea…it was all bruised and battered in about 5 minutes.  Anyway, the concept was to erase the debt in 3-5 years, and it could be done if almost every American (no exemptions) participated, and b) we didn’t have 10% unemployment.  Oh and c) with a solid commitment from the USG that it would never allow itself to run a deficit ever-never-ever again. That’s kind-of a fun one.  If I could make progress on JUST those two things, that would be pretty smexy.

ALL FOR NOW
Of course, the ideologies don’t end there…so I can always write more of it down in a subsequent blog.  I got plenty of time because…I am not running, just walking.  Ultimately, I figure I might get elected posthumously, if I am really lucky. Anyway, as mentioned before, if you want to try something different this year… just write me in.  If enough people do it, then your vote won’t be wasted, right…so maybe I should send this as one of those “forward this to 100 people you know” messages that promises you a free copy of Open Office if you do it! Oh well, whoever you write in, just make sure of two things, and I bet government improves at least a smidgen: 1) it is a real person, because they don’t count fictional characters – I found that out when trying to get Mr. Asparagus elected. So sad. He was green! 2) Vote for someone you believe will do a truly good job, not just because they make you feel good, but because they are willing to talk specifics before they are elected and act on those specifics once elected.

Happy 2012!