Frankenstein Monsters

I'm pretty sure that a Democrat will win the 2008 Presidential election, and I have to say that I am resigned to that possibility - mostly because I don't believe the Republicans have done anything that justifies holding the White House.

To be sure, the Bush tax cuts and his appointments to the Supreme Court have been the only policies worth any mention at all. But as a strict fiscal conservative, I can't say that cutting taxes while historically increasing government expenditures is anything to praise, either. Talk about "voodoo economics" ...

Admittedly, watching the Democratic primary battle between Hillary Clinton and media darling Barack Obama has been quite entertaining in its own right. Like, where else can you find someone with no experience chastising someone else about their lack of experience?

It's brilliant!

What I find most entertaining, though, is how the Democrats are scrambling to stay out of the way of their own Frankenstein monsters.

How long has the Democratic Party been the party of the disenfranchised? Now, they have a knock-down tooth-and-nail fight for the nomination between what could be the first female president and the first black president.

Personally, I would vote for either a woman or an African-American if that person espoused my libertarian beliefs. (If, say, Ron Paul were Rhonda or had dark skin I would be just as enthusiastic in my support for her or him.) The right individual with the right ideas gets my vote. (Too bad Ron dropped out of the race.)

Anyway, I digress ...

Leave it to the Democrats to pit these two firsts against each other and then not be able to decide between them.

The Democrats have spent the past 40 or so years dividing the country into small political groups under the guise of treating everyone equally. Now the group that comprises older white women and the group that comprises the "black vote" are all dug in for what may actually tear the party apart during their Presidential convention.

In this, the Democrats have managed to convert the old cliche, "divide and conquer," into a new one for the ages: divide and divide more.

Another monster they can't seem to escape is the one person-one vote mantra.

Remember all of the outrage during the 2000 election and how unfair and outdated the Democrats considered the Electoral College? They couldn't wait to remind us that Al Gore won the popular vote, but lost to George Bush "on a technicality."

Fast-forward to 2008 - the year of the Superdelegate.

By their own party rules, the person who wins the popular primary vote (Obama) could actually lose the nomination to the person (Mrs. Clinton) who receives more Superdelegate (i.e. party establishment) votes!

Positively brilliant!

And just so the monsters don't get lost in the trees. Those pesky party rules also resulted in the Democratic Party's punishment of Florida and Michigan, by not counting their primary delegates, because they chose to hold their primaries early, in violation of the rules.

So, what are they doing about that? I mean, rules are rules. Aren't they?

Not necessarily ...

Now there's talk about primary "do-overs" in those two rule-violating states. How typical ...

I guess if you truly harbor sanctimonious beliefs then changing the rules in the middle of the game isn't too much to ask. Schools with no grades - games with no score - and elections with no rules!

How very liberal and foresighted. It reminds me of the votes in the European Union where the people consistently vote 'no' to adopting a European Constitution, but the elites just keep holding new votes - presumably until the people get it right.

Still, though, watching the ineptitude of this party is brilliantly entertaining from my point of view.

I have an idea ...

As a libertarian-leaning conservative in Rhode Island I have been looking around for some sort of organization with which to associate to put forth ideas, solutions, analysis, and commentary on the various issues of the day. Unfortunately, Rhode Island is such a Democratic state that there is no such organization in existence.

It's very disconcerting to live in a state that has no effective, legitimate opposition argument. Other than the refreshing commentary done over at the RI blog, Anchor Rising (http://www.anchorrising.com/), there is no policy group or think tank that advocates free market, libertarian ideas in this heavily debt-laden state.

Massachusetts has the Pioneer Institute (http://www.pioneerinstitute.org/), which does a great job putting forth research and policy papers from a free market perspective in that state. I think it's high time that Rhode Island libertarians (and libertarian/conservative-minded folks) consider forming a similar organization.

Because, let's face it: Rhode Island is in dire shape due to these stale, Democrat-infested, big-government policies.