Some Thoughts on Politics

At abcnews.com you can answer questions at "Match-O-Matic" and by virtue of your answers you can find out what presidential candidates you most closely match in terms of values, outlook, and positions on policies. The assumption of this exercise is that if a candidate's positions match my own, that would be the right candidate for me to vote for.

The older I get and the more I reflect upon politics and elections, the less I believe that I should necessarily vote for a candidate because that candidate and I agree on positions on the questions of the day.

Here's why I have trouble with this approach: I don't know if my moral values and social desires are best for the United States of America as a country. Voting according to my values or according to my social vision assumes that how I see the world and dream about it would make a good nation or a good country.

I'm not sure that's true.

I oppose war. I'm not sure our country should.

I am in favor of gun control. But I don't want any more gun control than we already have for my any of my friends who carry legally concealed guns to our friendly poker game or on a drive to the casino.

I am in favor of the preservation of old growth forest land and, on principle, oppose clear cutting. But, I'm not sure that I understand the economics and silvaculture of forest lands well enough to say that the country's forest policies ought to reflect my individual point of view.

I suppose all of us would be more comfortable and happier, at some level if the world we live in mirrored our values and social vision.

But, I'm not sure, in my case, it would be best for our country.

More and more, as I look at presidential candidates, I ask myself if I have any sense of who can lead, who can inspire lawmakers to work more cooperatively and less divisively, who can inspire the citizens of the USA to look to their own and one another's better selves, rather than their uglier.

I'm not sure this ability to lead is really dependent on fine points of policy similarities and differences and I'm not sure it's connected to how many a times a person's been married, whether the candidate is Mormon or Baptist, or whether the person maintains a firmly held position on each of the issues before the voters.

I am trying to think of the country, not myself, as I try to determine who I'll vote for.

Oh. When I answered the questions abcnews.com posed, the candidate who most closely parallels my personal views and attitudes is Dennis Kucinich.

That doesn't surprise me a bit.

I'd never vote for Kucinich, though.

I might feel more affinity with him at the abstract level of ideas and attitudes, but I do not regard him as the leader our country would most benefit from.

But, I'm glad he's campaigning and gives voice to a world view I admire and often dream could work.