Picking Sides

Each day I make a decision of who I'm going to vote for and try and sit with it. And I can't get comfortable with either. I sort of assumed I'd really like Kamala Harris -- mainly because she's a woman. But after watching the vice-presidential debate, I wasn't impressed and I didn't like her at all. So now I'm back to square one.

To be honest, I choose Neither. Everyone is saying, "Just vote!" as if that's the hard part. That somehow the hard part is getting to the ballot box or putting my ballot in the mail. It's not. Choosing sides is the hard part. And I really don't want to. I don't agree wholeheartedly with either parties' politics and don't love either candidates' personalities. (Although Trump is way worse, obvs.) I could choose the one I MOST agreed with, but there doesn't seem to be one that holds that place for me either. 

It seems like one big fight and we're being asked to pick sides. Sides of a fight that I'm not really invested in. I can see good things about both the Democrat and Republican parties. And I can see things I disagree about both as well. Is there anyone that feels in unity with 100% of the issues that one side or the other represents?

I'm more divided. I agree with some Republican stances and some Democrat stances. I believe in a woman's right to choose and I believe in gun control. And I'm super comfortable with people having a different belief than me on that. I believe in a free market economy and support many of the tax laws that are in place. I don't think big businesses are inherently evil. I believe news media has lost their original standard of remaining neutral and unbiased. I am grateful for vaccines and I believe in science. I believe people should have the right to choose to be vaccinated or not. And I believe "science" can be reported to represent two opposite viewpoints based on the statistics and words they choose to represent those viewpoints. I'd like to have a welcoming immigration policy. And I definitely support DACA. And I don't know much about immigration prisons, but they sound awful. I support medical marijuana but not legal recreational marijuana. I think most police officers are great people trying to do a hard job that they love. I believe a handful aren't. The idea of healthcare not excluding pre-existing conditions sounds ideal. But Obamacare actually hurt my sister's family -- and lots of people who are self-employed because it got rid of many affordable insurance plans. No one talks about that. I don't think Coronavirus should be political and I think it's a good idea to wear a mask in public places. But I also am comfortable maintaining a six-foot distance. And I think it's important to start up schools again for those who want to come back. And to have the choice for distance-learning vs. in-person.  

Some issues have always baffled me as to how they became part of a political party's banner. For instance, the Democrat Party supports pro-choice, or a woman's right to choose to have an abortion or not -- killing an unborn baby. But they don't support a person's right to choose to wear a mask for Covid or to go to school (the Democrat governors), because people could potentially get sick or die. 

By the same token, the Republican party is pro-life for an unborn baby, but pro-choice when it comes to wearing a mask or not. Even though you could potentially spread illness. And also, guns could kill someone, but they're ok. 

And one more thing, I think it's ironic that Democrats are touting "we believe in science" (as if Republicans don't) and attaching that to validating their claims of climate change and the spread of Coronavirus. But they don't believe in Economic Science when it comes to Free Market Economies and how minimum wage and dictating mandatory insurance policies affect businesses and the trickle down effect to employees. 

Finally, I think a lot of politics like to point fingers or blame someone for problems when in reality, it's not someone's or a political party's fault. The political world is pure craziness and we've been pulled smack in the middle of it.