Thoughts of LoWriter

Politics

After a weekend with my family in which my dad argued with me, yet again, about why Democrats are evil and Republicans are the salvation and light of the world, I have determined that our approaches to NASCAR sum up our approaches to politics.

You see, my dad is all about a certain brand of car. All he wants is for a Chevy to win the race. It doesn't matter how craptastic Chevies become or what assholes might be driving them. So long as Chevy wins, he's happy.

I, on the other hand, am only concerned about the drivers. I don't care what pile of crap they drive, so long as I can get behind them as a person. As long as the driver is nice and personable and humble, the car could be a demo derby car, and I'm satisfied if the driver wins. And I'll admit it, often, I'm satisfied so long as anybody but Tony Stewart wins the race.

This is very similar to our attitudes about politics. My dad is a Republican. He will vote Republican no matter who is running for office or how that person has distorted the platform. He will stick with Republican until the bitter end.

I am a Democrat, but only in the loosest sense of the term. I won't vote for anybody I don't like, and I don't care how much good they might stand for. If I don't like somebody, I won't vote for that person. If I do like somebody, I will vote for them regardless of whether or not we disagree on a few crucial issues because I don't really think they can do much about the things we disagree about, anyway. So often, I vote Democrat or Green.

It's interesting to me that our approaches are so different, but it makes me recognize the fact that we will probably never agree on NASCAR or politics, and that's OK. Even if he doesn't think so.