She's Right Votes (Part three)...finally!

Okay, I know this is late, but I have been at a conference all day today (and the past three evenings).

I have thought long and hard about who I should vote for in the U.S. Senate and House races. So long, in fact, that I will have to hand deliver my absentee ballot to the polling place in my ward on Tuesday because I don't have time to mail it in.

After the primary, as many of you know, I expressed my frustration with the Republican Party. I felt as though they have abandoned the small-government conservative ideals that brought the party to power back in 1994 (and beyond).

That is true. In many ways, they have.

Over the past two months since the primary, I have listened to the seemingly never-ending rhetoric coming from the Democrats, and certain non-Democrat independent Democrats, that this election is all about who controls both houses of Congress. (Since they have no new ideas, this election is not about who has better ideas, but who has control.)

At first, it made me sick. Politicians who care about nothing but power and control. I didn't want to vote for anyone. I stopped reading many of my regular political blogs and websites. I just wanted it to all go away.

This past week, with the election just days away, I realized that I needed to make a decision.

In the end, the Democrats won. It is all about who has control.

I am mad at the Republicans because they are spending too much money. So, I ask myself, will the Democrats spend less? No.

I am mad at the Republicans because they are expanding the role of government. So, I ask myself, will the Democrats expand it less? No.

I am mad at the Republicans because I feel like they are using the government to enforce their social values. So I ask myself, will the Democrats not use the government to expand their values? No, they will.

Back when I was Chair of the Burlington Republican Committee, there was one person who many people thought would be more comfortable in the Libertarian Party. When this came up in conversation one day, he said to me that you change the party from the inside; you don't just abandon ship.

I never understood how right he was. The time to complain about the Republicans losing their way was when they were enacting legislation we small-government conservatives disliked. The time to try to unseat big-spending, government-expanding conservatives was during the primaries. Now is not the time.

Now is the time to listen to the Democrats. It is all about who sets the agenda for what our government does over the next two years.

The question is no longer: am I 100% happy with the fact that the Republican Party has not controlled spending and stuck to small-government principles. No; the question now is, do I want the agenda of the Democrats?

Do I want Universal Health care (which is struggling to remain financially solvent in countries that have it now), price-controls on gasoline (which caused a self-inflicted gas shortage last time they were implemented here), an immediate $2/hour increase in the minimum wage (which will have untold effects on prices of vital goods I am now struggling to afford), a roll-back of the tax cuts (which saved our economy from a recession) and to see our Nation bogged-down with another misguided, politically-motivated impeachment investigation of our President?

The answer is a resounding no.

Martha Rainville and Rich Tarrant are not the candidates that I supported in the primary. I don't think either of them is conservative enough. In fact, I believe that they are both independent, as they have said in their campaigns.

But the fact remains, they are better than the alternative. Both of their opponents have campaigned on the hatred of the Bush administration, the war in Iraq, and the handful of Republicans in congress that have had ethics problems. They have offered little more than, "I'm not Bush."

Well, neither is Martha Rainville, and neither is Rich Tarrant. In fact, they have both articulated some moderate, compromising solutions to problems facing our nation.

While it's true that I am not a moderate and I would prefer a real conservative to vote for, moderation is something that appeals to many Vermonters. Just look at who sits in the Governor's Office.

I know I said I wasn't going to fall for the lesser of two weasels approach this time, but what can I say? The Democrats had convincing ads. This election is all about who controls Congress and the choice is between the Republicans or the Democrats.

I choose the Republicans.