There are any number of topics I have wanted to write about here on this blog over the past several weeks, but have not gotten around to getting it on here. While I would love to say I’ll do better next year, I’m not going to make promises I won’t keep.
I will, however, say I’ll try harder and as we head toward the end of the year, I’ll try to get at least a couple of those thoughts memorialized here.
We have had an election since I last posted. Here in Tennessee, we affirmed ourselves as solidly red. We had a hotly contested Senate race. Marsha Blackburn, currently a GOP congresswoman from the district I live in, defeated former Nashville Mayor and former Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen, a moderate Democrat.
I thought Bredesen, who was immensely popular in both of the aforementioned offices, would give Blackburn more of a run for her money but it was not to be. She beat him by more than ten percentage points.
In our governor’s race, political newcomer Bill Lee, a Republican, soundly defeated Democrat Karl Dean, another former Nashville mayor.
I’m not going to comment on how I voted other than to tell you I did not vote a straight party ballot. I am a staunchly independent voter and I find plenty to which I can object from both sides. I find that these days I am drawn toward candidates who say they will work across party lines and represent all citizens.
You may be thinking most candidates at least give lip service to that value, but you would be wrong. Marsha Blackburn hitched her wagon to Donald Trump and plastered the TV with commercials showing them together. He came here on a couple of occasions to campaign for her. She made a broad assumption of what the majority of Tennesseans wanted in a Senator and in the end it appears she was correct.
But she never said a word about representing all of her constituents and working with all of her colleagues in government to attempt to make a government that works better.
And I guess I am in the minority these days when I gravitate toward candidates who will work toward bipartisanship.
But that’s OK.
4 comments:
I don't ever vote a straight party ticket. For me, it's about the candidate, not the party.
I hope you're working on a book post for the end of the year. I often get inspiration from seeing what you've enjoyed reading during the year!
It was an interesting election for sure. We had several elections in CA that were not decided until a few days to a week later after the votes were counted - several only a few thousand (some even only a few hundred) apart. The party politics are getting to me. I can't stand the name calling and the tweeting. I want to know what the candidate will do for his/her constituents, and that has been getting harder to come by. I'm taking the rest of the year off from the constant political news because it is TOO MUCH. Happy Thanksgiving!
I've voted straight party before but not in any recent elections. All our elections were extremely close this time around, from statewide down to local elections. I was actually pleased with most who got elected instead of being disappointed which tends to be the default for me.
I seldom vote straight party, either. Often, I'm voting for the libertarian or another a third party cause I can't stomach the candidates on the main two parties.
www.thepulpitandthepen.com
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