The Myth of the Independents

In the spirit of the fantasy that this blog has a mass audience, let me ask a question of the millions of readers out there. Do any of you know anyone who is undecided about the upcoming Presidental election? In other words, people wondering, “Who should I vote for, Romney or Obama. It’s so hard to decide?” Anyone? Me neither.

Minds are made up. The older I get the deeper the realization becomes that almost nobody ever changes their mind, about most things, but especially about politics. When people change their minds about politics, it is a very big deal. Most never do. Those few who do, usually do it once in a lifetime.

This election is not about “independents”. There are no independents. This election is about firing up the base, on both sides. That’s why it is so nasty. The base is all there is. It’s all about turn out. It’s all about demonizing the other guy. Best demonizer wins.

It is thoughts like these that turn me to becoming a monarchist. As has so often been said of democracy, it is not a good system, but it is perhaps better than all of the others. Sometimes you get a good monarch, sometimes not. When it’s good, it’s very very good, and when it is bad, it’s horrid. Were I a British subject, I would much rather have been ruled by the current Queen Elizabeth than by the many Prime Ministers and Parliaments that have come and gone during her reign. On the other hand, I’m not so sure about Prince Charles, but how much worse could it be?

The argument for democracy is that the extremes tend to be more muted, further towards the middle of the bell curve, and they don’t last as long. Voters act as a damper on the powers of the monarch.

Me? I’m a Republican. I used to be a far left idealogue. I’ve had my once in a lifetime change of political principle. I have been willing to be excommunicated from the community of “good” people rather than insult my own intelligence. I have seen the light. Vote Romney/Ryan.