Weary Pilgrim - The Vote

So I walked over to the Townhouse the other day to cast a vote. Did you know it’s one of the oldest polling locations in the country? There’s something special about voting in a room where folks once cast ballots for James Madison. Or Andrew Jackson. Or Teddy Roosevelt......or Donald Trump.

Wow.

I had a long talk with myself on the way over about my vote, but I’m still not exactly sure I understood what I was trying to say – after all, this is the weirdest political season since Aaron Burr challenged Alexander Hamilton to a duel.

I won’t draw this out, and I don’t ever ask anyone about their vote, but I cast a vote for John Kasich. Why? Simple ­ I think a two party system is absolutely necessary for the stability of our nation – Karl Rove never understood this, which is why he strove to destroy the Democratic party even as his administration plunged us into huge debt and a war that continues today. The Democrats in the first two years of Obama’s presidency lost sight of this as well – and not a lot got done, except they passed a health care law that could have been a lot better if they had listened to the Republicans along the way. So if we’re going to have two parties, we need to have the best people in each party to vote for. We actually had that here in the 6th Congressional District of Massachusetts in the last election – I would have voted for Richard Tisei ( a class act if I ever I saw one ), if we hadn’t had Seth Moulton running against him. Seth has done pretty darned well since he got elected, but it’s okay by me if the Republicans want to find somebody halfway decent to run against him – because then we will have a choice.

Voting for Kasich had an additional benefit – it relieved me of having to choose betweenHilary and Bernie. You already know where I’m going with this – Hillary is a real and tenacious politician – she would love to get in the ring with Paul Ryan and take him fall-for­fall through the legislative process. Bernie would just blow a gasket while trying to do the Right Thing in the Faces of Evil known as the Right Wing, Wall Street, the One Percent, yadda, yadda, yadda.....we get it, Bernie, because we felt that way back in the day too. Voting for Hillary is basically throwing in the towel of righteous indignation, and abandoning the mantle of hope we had back in the days of bell­bottoms.

Watching the cage match in the last Republican debate, you wonder if indeed this isn’t the time for the Republicans to reinvent themselves – I firmly believe that there should be a home for those of us who are socially liberal and fiscally conservative. But I suspect that any new party that evolves will still be dedicated to the No­Choice stand of the current party – and I think Women’s rights are a lightning rod for so­-called conservatives. Sometimes I think we should have a constitutional amendment that allows the whole abortion debate to be decided by popular vote – of women only. If the women of America want to limit what they can do with their bodies, fine. I know this image is a fairy tale, but I sure get tired of old white men telling women what they can do.

I also get tired of watching Rubio, Cruz, and Trump act like fraternity brothers in the Budweiser Debating Society. Louts are louts – making crude sexual insults, toward women like Megyn Fox or Hilary, or toward each other, is so Bush League (pun intended), the Congressional District of Massachusetts in you just have to wonder how desperate the voters are to feel they are willing to overlook these things.

It’s that desperation we need to understand – Trump is ahead of Cruz and Rubio because he is so un­politician­like. Even I admire that in him. He talks to the camera like he is talking to one person. Hilary talks to the camera like she is addressing the United Nations. Mind you, Hilary actually has talked to the United Nations. If Donald Trump talked to the United Nations the way he spoke at the debate last night, we would be invaded the next day by a coalition from Denmark, Bali , and Canada.

So, as my grandfather used to ask, what in the Sam Hill is going to happen? Bloomberg, my personal fave candidate, will not run if Hilary wins the nomination. Will Romney actually offer himself up as a candidate to thwart Trump, even if he represents fewer voters than Trump? To what point?

I used to love the name of that fine, obscure 19th century party, the Mugwumps. I say if a name that cool is available, somebody ought to take it. Given the rampant unpleasantness of the current political scene, anything that can put a smile on our faces

is welcome indeed. ‘Mugwump’ – go ahead and say it, I dare you. See, don’t you already feel better?