Radley Balko has (for the time being, at least) given up on Howard Dean, due to his drug policies. My favorite part:
It's pretty sad when you resign yourself to a standards-lowing, no-other-options protest vote -- and have to hold your breath, plug your nose and get sloppy drunk to bring yourself to even that -- and the candidate you've reluctantly come to support still finds a way to disappoint.
Much like the last Democrat to unseat a President Bush, Radley feels my pain. That said, the primary is the issue right now, and the decisions we have to make aren't the same as the ones we'll have to make in November.
I'm a huge defender of independent candidacies, but in a one-party primary, it seems to me that there's nothing to lose by picking the "least evil". And although I'm not cheerleading for him yet, I'm still leaning towards Dean - only because of his electability, his 2nd Amendment policies, and his eloquent opposition to the Iraq war.
Tomorrow's the official opening of Dean's Upper Valley office, right here in Lebanon. I'm thinking of going just to observe what "sort of people" show up. The difference between a crowd of McDonald's-smashers and a hodgepodge of interested parties tends to be obvious. Cme to think of it, I've got some exposures left on a roll of film I should have developed in May. Maybe I'll try photoblogging it.
Via Zoe Mitchell I've discovered Granite Staters for Medical Marijuana. Boy, that sounds a lot like me. These folks give Dean an 'F'. Ouch. To save you a few mouse clicks, here are their grades for all the candidates:
So Kucinich is their guy. Duly noted. Frankly, I think the combination of a socialist like Dennis Kucinich and a Republican Congress might be the best the country could do. The Republicans were a lot tougher on government spending when they saw it as Clinton's fault - 3/4 of his domestic agenda would die on the House floor. Kucinich has no foreign policy, which is why Bush would eat him alive in November, but assuming he COULD get elected, what could he possibly do to make us less safe? It's worth thinking about, but I don't know if I could really hold my nose and support a guy like this.
At any rate, it's way too early to endorse or to write off any candidate. Even Sharpton - at least he's got a sense of humor.
Posted by digamma at July 21, 2003 05:25 PM