5 Days Until Election 2004 - Excuse Me While I Switch Horses
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2004 10:58 PM
In the last week, more than in all the years of my somewhat brief life, I have heard repeatedly, "Don't change horses in midstream" as a bit of wisdom on the importance of "re-electing" George Bush.* Beyond noting that seeking guidance or justification or even articulation from a cliché is just kind of silly, My mental retort is "Well, pardon me, but I'd much rather risk landing on my ass in the river than to ride my horse over a waterfall."

To extend the mangling, I'm quite convinced the current horse has blinders on; though not actually deaf, only hears at very particular frequencies; is rather misguided as to which direction is that of safety and which is almost certain disaster; and I don't think he's paying very much attention when I tug on the reins.

Done with that crummy idiom.** And hopefully on November 2, or sometime in the several weeks following, we'll find that we are done with our current president.

Again, I must point to Pamie for an insightful story about how some segments of our electorate aren't particularly informed, but are passionately, spectacularly opinionated. The comments are pretty good reading too.

I finally got around to reading Slate Votes, their roundup of how their contributors are voting. Kerry takes it easily, though more endorsements seem to come from choosing the least repulsive alternative. The cases for Bush are definitely worth reading too.

The biggest bummer? Dahlia Lithwick, who turns in a smart, well-informed, must-read opinion, can't vote-she's Canadian.

Other good ones (in part):

Paul Boutin, Technology Writer: Kerry
But while [Bush] claims to be a love-your-enemies Christian and a keep-the-government-off-my-back Republican, he and his administration have repeatedly led the country into actions that are neither what Jesus nor the Economist would do.

Daniel Drezner , Political Scientist and Contributor: Kerry
This is a foreign policy election for me, and I've never been less enthused about my choice of major party candidates-it's like being forced to decide whether The Matrix: Reloaded or The Matrix: Revolutions is the better movie.

Dana Stevens, Television Writer: Kerry
At first Kerry seemed like a default choice-I didn't see why he had emerged from the pack of Democratic hopefuls. But as the campaign's progressed, he's won me over. Like Al Gore, he comes off as a stiff, pompous policy wonk, but I actually kind of like that in a candidate-it shows that they actually like sitting down and thinking about all the boring stuff you need to know in order to run a country. Since when did the job of president stop requiring a résumé?

Other must reads: William Saletan, Seth Stevenson, and Robert Wright's entries.

The best, for me, was Timothy Noah's. Especially the point he makes at the end that really gets glossed over or ignored in most political dialogues:

As the economic journalist Daniel Altman has demonstrated, it is now the conscious (if unacknowledged) policy of the United States to eliminate taxes on capital and shift it onto labor. That enrages me.

Me too, Timothy. Me too.

*I did not vote for him in 2000-in case you couldn't tell.
**Not crummily derived, just crummily used. It's got a neat origin.

Election 2004 | 60 Days Until Election 2004 - Are You Ready? | 50 Days Until Election 2004 - Random Assortment of Links | 40 Days Until Election 2004 - Debates Are Coming | Finally! A Debate Drinking Game! | Vicki Liviakis Goes Down | 30 Days Until Election 2004 - C-SPAN Is My Favorite Channel | The One Where Everyone Pretends It Matters | Maybe I Should Just Move Back To Berkeley | . . . Dred Scott? Ahhh, Relevance | C-SPAN Still Rocks! | 20 Days Until Election 2004 - Final Debate Drinking Game | 14 Days Until Election 2004 - Give Your Brain A Break | 10 Days Until Election 2004 - Polls Are Stupid

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