choices choices .... choice? maybe?

I don't typically engage in discussions about politics. I am more prone to discuss religion because at least there is a basic knowledge and motive there for me (but to be honest I rarely even engage in those discussions either).

However, since this is election day, I guess I will make a stab at it. This is not about politicians in general, but about the landscape of politics. Two hundred plus years ago when this system we have was set up, it worked. There weren't as many people in the United States, and it surely wasn't as controlled by outside forces (lobbyists) as what Washington has become today.

I will confess that I have never voted. That is because I have never seen anyone that made it worth my time or that I identified with enough with to take the time. I am sure this sounds like a cop-out, but bear with me.

If I were ever to vote, voting at the local level is really all that appeals to me until we get rid of this cursed two-party-lesser-of-two-evils system. It's ridiculous!

America is waaaaayyy too eclectic to have a mere two "choices" to work with. W. only got elected to President because his first term he ran against Al Gore. He only got re-elected because he ran against John Kerry. I am not saying W. was the lesser of two evils in either instance, but the fact that there were two (realistic) options (not choices), allowed him to score the majority of the vote. Both elections were close ... probably the closest ever.

To further (and hopefully not belabor) the point, we have two people running to represent TN right now for a seat in Washington. The democratic candidate is Scott Desjerlais, the doctor (that is how he represents himself ... Scott Desjerlais, the doctor)

HTF is he qualified to fill a seat in Congress? I mean, really!

His opponent, Lincoln Davis, has engaged in smear attacks (another turnoff for me) and contends that Desjerlais has been accused of striking his wife and held a gun to his head in a standoff with the police at some point in his past. Desjerlais' smear capaign has gone after Davis saying he is hardly helpful to our times as he has sided with Pelosi and Obama during his tenure and voting Davis isn't any change ('more of the same' ... now where have I heard that before)?

So now the political landscape is so bad that we in TN are reduced to voting for a doctor (with a possibly sketchy past?) just "to achieve change". I am sure this is not an isolated incident, but since I don't have ny nose in the political realm, I cannot say.

Voting for someone just because they are not an incumbent is not a good policy. Sure it may cause change, but throwing someone in because they are not the one who has been there regardless of their qualifications? Just sounds like a recipe for disaster. Again, we need more than TWO choic.... errrr .... options!

Good luck to all that vote and I hope you find someone that you can relate with and that it will work out for you in the next six years.