View from the Fence

As previously stated, I’m in the middle on this whole election thing. I’m just talking solely about the Presidential race here: I seriously do not know who I’m voting for. I’m not officially affiliated with any party, never have been, and if I laid out my views for you (which I won’t—who cares), you’d see that I’m not in fact wishy-washy like I may sound, or dispassionate. I happen to feel very passionately about certain issues, they just fall on very different sides of the fence.

I know most people’s ideals probably aren’t all black and white, neatly landing into the “Republican” or “Democrat” category, and I know the easiest thing to do is lay out all the issues, decide which ones are the most important to me, and choose the candidate that most closely matches those choices. Except that it’s not so easy.

Let’s just say, for instance, that I’m adamantly opposed to universal health care, and support an individual’s right to bear arms. Go Republican, right? Except let’s say that I am also vehemently opposed to legislation that bans same-sex marriages and overturns Roe vs. Wade. Back to Democrat. Let’s also say that I wouldn’t mind marijuana being legalized, and that I think the War on Drugs is generally a lost cause. Still Democrat. But I’d also love to seal our borders, stay out of foreign affairs entirely, and concentrate on domestic issues above all. Um, neither candidate, really. More Republican, I suppose. And the list goes on. And on.

I let one issue go, in favor of another that I deem a tiny bit more important, and I think, I could vote this way, let’s do it. But then my eye catches another ideal shared by the candidate I just jumped the fence for, and I completely recoil. Back-step to other side—where I think, all right, I’m on board, let’s go. But no, no, this candidate supports something else that makes me want to vomit until my shoes come out my mouth.

Either way, I feel a little bit like I’m voting for the devil. I realize the President is not the end-all, be-all for policy-making decisions here in America, and who each candidate surrounds themselves with probably has more weight. But a decision must be made, and so far in my observation-gathering, I am planted firmly on the fence.

Undecidedly Yours,