(no subject)

I thought McCain's concession speech was good and gracious. Not nearly as electrifying as Obama's, but it obviously came from the heart.

Yet I've just read someone's blog saying that it's a good thing his past speeches weren't like that, otherwise he might have won.

So much for democracy, hey?

Listen up, lady. The people get to pick who they want, and if it's not your preferred guy, it doesn't make them stupid or ignorant or gullible or out of step. Going by the numbers, the reverse is true.

The big thing about democracy is that it's the people who have the final say. It's not the scientists picking the candidate who will be best for the environment or computing or technology. It's not the economists picking the guy best for the banking industry, and it's not Mensa picking the brightest.

It's everyone having a say, and if they vote for someone because he gives good speeches or he has nice grandparents, then that's the way it is. It's democracy.

I remember Tim Costello at the Constitutional Convention, saying that candidates for the head of state position should be run through a selection committee so as to eliminate those who were obviously unsuitable. He then named as examples of unsuitable candidates two politicians with views that differed from his. You could almost see him shudder with horror at the thought of them even being considered for the top job.

To him, democracy is about removing freedom of choice.

And then there are those who have what I call a football team mentality. They support a particular sports team, maybe because it's the local one, they like the team colours, they like the shape of the captain's jaw, whatever. And "their" team is the one they support against all others. Now, that's OK, but when you get to supporting political parties on the same principle, voting the same way all your life, regardless of policies, candidates, skills and suitability, isn't that *exactly* the same as making a choice for some frivolous reason?

Me, I see democracy as giving everybody the same voice, regardless of how clever they are, how rich they are, what way they swing sexually, what gods they worship, and what colour their skin is. The vote of the bloke with the bum out of his strides has the same value as that of the merchant banker. They count the votes, and it's quantity that matters, not quality.

And that's exactly the way it should be. Heaven help us if we should ever get to live in a society where the self-proclaimed elites get to make all our choices for us.

Some of the people...

OK, it was the end of a twelve hour shift at the end of a week of same and maybe I didn't express myself clearly.

I thank everyone for giving their opinion.

I agree with those who commentated, yes, if McCain had given better speeches, he might have won. That's the point. But that's not what the original poster was saying.

Here's my paraphrase, watering down the original poster:

...it's a good thing his past speeches weren't like that, otherwise he might have won.

She wasn't saying that if he'd given better speeches McCain might have won. That's just stating the obvious. She was saying, in strong terms, that it was a good thing he wasn't more attractive to the voters. Otherwise he might have won.

Well, just how do you judge a political candidate? How do you make your mind up who to vote for? Wouldn't the things a candidate says in public be an excellent way of deciding whether to vote for him or her? Isn't that precisely how Obama won his magnificent victory?

I think that the original poster was saying that the people can be fooled by what a candidate says, but she can't.

She's not an American, but she knows better than the American people which way they should vote. Regardless of what the candidates actually say to their fellow Americans.

Well, I disagree with that attitude, and I disagree strongly. The bottom line is that in America, after more than two centuries the strong and thriving ancestral home of modern democracy, the voters get a chance to vote any way they please for whatever private reasons they have.