Friday, May 4, 2012

Strange Feeling Not To Have A Dog In The Presidential Hunt For The First Time

I have been following presidential politics nearly all of my life. I have an early memory as a little child watching the 1956 returns coming in and I can still see ABC's John Daly  saying "Senator Kennedy is being re-elected as Senator from Massachusetts with a landslide margin of victory."


I was a campaign worker for JFK in 1960,  meeting LBJ at the campaign headquarters, "whaa shore" he loudly drawled when I asked  him to autograph a photograph I recall.


Since then I have had a substantial collection of presidential memorabilia (I have made a  number of blog posts on the subject) supported mostly Democrats until 2008 and have been a solid supporter of Palin since then.


This election I will not vote for any candidate whose name is on the New York ballot, and will write in Palin, voting straight GOP down-ticket. I will not vote for Romney even if Palin endorses him and even in the unlikely event he chose her as his vice-presidential running mate.


Neither will I vote for President Obama, although I consider his re-election to be in the best interest of the GOP, as I set out previously.Thus, for the first time in my adult life I do not have a preferred candidate that I will actively support and vote for-a strange feeling.


It is very odd feeling I find to view the days political headlines with disinterest. To not look at the financial news and ponder how the news might benefit my chosen candidate. 


It is with dispassionate interest that I read the partisan columns from major bloggers on both sides of the political fence without nodding in agreement or getting furious as the case might be usually in the heat of political battle.


As the election day draws near perhaps some prehistoric combative instinct will surface and the blood will rise but I doubt it. The nearest sensation can describe to this somewhat neutered state, is that it is similar to the state one reaches when the testosterone levels naturally decrease with age. 


It is a wistful state certainly  but not without its benefits-a more sanguine state of mind being the major reward. But since one is not dead quite yet, the sap does rise from time to time, and I expect that I will not need a little blue pill in the campaign of 2016.



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