Political Help (Dad)

Hi All, Robin asked me to tell her my philosophy to help her on Election Day. I thought it would be a good posting for the BLOG.

I thought you might be interested in an editorial from the Deseret News. It is at http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,705259288,00.html. It seems like all anyone says is to tear down the opponent. It is not very often that you read or hear anything that has only positive points in it. This is an editorial by a Republican and a Democrat. It may not help, but at least it should make you think before you “head for the hills” as the second guy puts it.

There has been so much negative campaigning by both sides that it is hard to know what to expect after the election. In the past the moral choice in the campaign has been more clear. Abortion, gay lifestyles, and opposition to family values has been promoted by one side and opposed by the other. The candidates and even the party platforms have either ignored them this year or have actually coalesced to the same positions. We have a Democrat leading the Senate who is “pro-life” and is a family man who sent his sons on missions and his children to BYU. We have a Republican President who opposes stem cell research on moral grounds and a Mormon Senator from Utah who is leading the campaign to allow stem cell research – also on moral grounds.

The choice this year reminds me a lot of the 1976 election. We were in graduate school at the University of Illinois then and idealistic as all students were at that time. The election was between an older man who had spent his life in congress and knew government inside and out and a young outsider who was charismatic and full of enthusiasm to “change Washington.” (Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter) Jimmy Carter came to Illinois and I went to hear him speak. He was really convincing – a good speaker and seemed to be a welcome change from the politics of Watergate. In the end I voted for Ford, but I have to admit that I was impressed by Carter and saw a lot of reasons to vote for him to bring in some new ideas. You can read in history books how it turned out. Carter was probably one of the worst presidents. Before he left office we had double-digit inflation, high taxes, mortgage rates around 15%, foreign relations in disarray, and American hostages in the embassy in Iran.

I don’t like socialized medicine. I don’t like the government redistributing wealth based on social status. The system should encourage merit and alleviate real need. I don’t like the attitude that if anything goes wrong the Government should take care of us. (This seems to be the crux of the current choice.) I don’t like having both houses of Congress and the Presidency in the same party. This has not been good in the past no matter which party it was.

I think you can see from that which way I am intending to vote. However, I actually like the choice in this election better than in the last two, and maybe even the last four. The Lord’s advice to us about elections is in D&C 98:4-10. There are things I don’t like in their campaign rhetoric, but the impression I have gotten is that both John McCain and Barak Obama are basically “honest, wise and good.” This seems to be the test we should apply to our elected officials, and I don’t think we have been able to say that about both candidates in the last few elections. In my opinion, the worst thing that can happen is not having the wrong party win; rather it is having half of the country not accept the winner as the President, giving him the respect that the office deserves, and working to help him succeed instead of hoping that he fails.

I hope this helps. It is good you are thinking hard about it. I saw a bumper sticker the other day that said, “Vote Democrat – it is easier than thinking.” I am afraid that is true in too many cases on both sides.

Love
Dad