The following is a quote from David Sedaris's essay that recently appeared in The New Yorker magazine. The essay addresses his perspective on the upcoming presidential election and the voters who still claim to be undecided:
- I look at these people and can’t quite believe that they exist. Are they professional actors? I wonder. Or are they simply laymen who want a lot of attention?
To put them in perspective, I think of being on an airplane. The flight attendant comes down the aisle with her food cart and, eventually, parks it beside my seat. “Can I interest you in the chicken?” she asks. “Or would you prefer the platter of shit with bits of broken glass in it?”
To be undecided in this election is to pause for a moment and then ask how the chicken is cooked.
Read the entire essay here
7 Comments:
I appreciate "undecidedman" wavering, if the third=party candidates are part of the picture. They are woefully under-reported upon. Deciding whether or not to cast a vote for one of them may require more investigation and thought. But, a choice between McCain and Obama?
Those two guys have been campaigning (that is, not doing the jobs they were elected to do) for almost two years now. What could there possibly be about them that isn't known and still needs to be considered?
Yes, I'll visit the blog and see if that changes my view, but I rather doubt it.
I am glad that I am not the first person to post here. While I can understand that urgency all the Obama supporters feel (heck the supporters of both sides) at we sitting on the proverbial fence, I have to say that I could just follow what I've done in the past, or I could do the soul searching that's gotten me this far.
I guess in calling me undecided, that is too simple a term. Right now, I don't want to vote for either of the major party candidates. I am with suldog in that I hunger for something else. So do I have to choose between the two of them? Or can I vote for someone else? Or do you all see that as just as bad as voting for no one, or the other guy, etc.
A McCain/Powell ticket would have made me very happy. McCain/Lieberman would have too.
And I am, honestly, sick and tired of every Democrat telling me what to think. No offense intended, and I do not necessaily mean you here, honey, just all of the columnists and bloggers, everyone else who writes and makes fun of those of us trying to do the best by our vote in taking a long time to reach the conclusion rather than just throwing in along old party lines.
Voting is personal. Voting is my right. I am going to exercise it in such a way that I can live with what name I click on. I am not going to vote to that it pleases John Stewart (or David Sedaris). :)
Alright, that is about all the "ranting" I want to do about that. I really respect everyone and everyone's decisions. You must do what you feel is right, as must I. And we can vote differently if we want to because we live in a country where that's not only ok, but something we would all die for to make sure we can continue to do so.
Whew, sorry, where's my coffee..... :)
Really, all of this is not meant as a knock at Stu, in any way shape or form. He knows this (or should).
I have always appreciated your gentle nudges, dude.
To be clear, I'm not opposed to independent voters who struggle with the 2008 presidential election. Yes, I'm a Democrat, and yes, I think the Democratic Party is this country's best chance for becoming our best. However, I don't believe we Democrats have the best ideas. I am in favor of a lot of what has been said by Ralph Nader, Dennis Kucinich, Ron Paul, and others. But as I have a wife and kids, I need to be realistic. And while Senator Barack Obama doesn't have the answers to everything, his stances are far more reasonable, fair, ethical, and soulful than Senator John McCain's.
and that is why I admire you and keep on stopping by here honey.
:)
Thanks for allowing me to rant a bit.
I too am an undecided voter. Actually, I have decided that I cannot in good conscience vote for either Obama or McCain ... I am just undecided as to which of the remaining 14 other candidates on the ballot here in CO that I will vote for.
My reason for not being able to vote for either McCain or Obama: both of their stated tax plans will result in TRILLIONS of additional dollars being added to the national debt. Both want to lower taxes (good to get votes from the middle class) and increase spending (good to get contributions from big business). IMHO, their plans may be good in the short term, but in the long term I fear our nation's economy will suffer another meltdown when the bill for the deficit comes due. I feel that our kids and grandkids will face the consequences of Obama's and McCain's unwillingness to deal with the deficit now. I know that the deficit is but one of many election issues. But for me, this one is critical. I just don't want my kids and grandkids to face the consequences of our generation's failure to deal with the deficit. Thanks for the opportunity to add my two cents!
---allen
Allen - Remember how things were when Bill Clinton was elected. He reduced the deficit and created an unprecedented economic expansion. When I look at Senator Obama's economic plans, they seem quite familiar. I predict that before we have a 45th president, our deficit will be well under control.
Stu,
I sincerely hope you are right. I know that Obama has pledged to balance the budget within 4 years. However, a balanced budget (where the financial year's income is greater than or equal to the year's spending) is a far cry from eliminating the deficit (which is over $10 trillion now). I wish that Obama was campaigning on a promise to eliminate the deficit ... that would be an economic plan I could embrace. I just don't think that lowering taxes and increasing spending will reduce the deficit. I don't want to hand our kids and grandkids a ticking economic bomb.
---allen
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