Voting

I know I'm extremely political and I think about these things more than most, but I hope that everyone is registered to vote in this coming election. There is a lot that rides on this election, regardless of who you chose to vote for. The most important thing is that each citizen has the privilege and responsibility to participate in our democracy. If you live in Utah, you must have your registration postmarked by October 4 so you don't have to go down to the county clerk. If you are in another state, just google "(your state) voter registration" and you can find the specific rules for your state.

If you live in Utah and need to register to vote, here is a link to the mail-in voter registration form.

Again, regardless of who you decide to vote for, please vote.

Winter

So, as my background gives away, I'm more than a little excited for winter and snow. I love skiing, love football and college basketball, and wearing sweatshirts. That said, I can't wait to hit the slopes again this year.

Raising The Bar

So, besides The Office, which I'm happy to say starts a new season this month, I have a new favorite TV show. I'm a junkie for politically charged movies... I watched Thirteen Days this morning... but also for legal TV. Not Judge Judy or The People's Court, but definitely Law and Order. However, Law and Order may have been replaced by a new series on TNT called Raising the Bar. The first ever episode was on last week and the second episode is tonight. It's well done... Steven Bochco is the producer, but my favorite thing about the show is how it takes a real look at the fundamental dysfunctionality of our criminal justice system.

Some of you may get bored with this post, but for those of you who read, you will understand some of the reasons I have become more liberal in the past year or so. My opposition to the death penalty is the most obvious result of this understanding of the legal system, but more than that, I have realized that it's often the little guy that catches the raw end of the deal.

Let me explain. It's well understood that our legal system is based on an adversarial process with an impartial judge or a jury of the defendant's peers deciding whether the defendant is guilty or innocent. The problem, though, is that prosecutors have the incentive, political or otherwise, to win regardless of the real innocence or guilt of the defendant. Along with this, prosecutors have the power to set the parameters of a plea bargain, in which an innocent defendant is incentivized to plea out rather than take their chances at trial. Prosecutors often add on benign charges in hopes of getting the defendant to plea down to a lesser charge and thus avoid the costs of a trial.

Likewise, there are numerous circumstances where prosecutors again have the incentive to win the case and the D.A. needs to appear to be "tough on crime" for re-election purposes and defendants are convicted on coerced confessions or shaky testimony. Yes, I understand that many of these defendants are guilty anyways, but the costs of the legal system are the life imprisonment or worse of innocent people. The errors of the system are magnified in many instances because of the resource disparity between the government and a public defender. Thus, while I realize the legal system often gets it right in spite of itself, there are serious costs incurred that this show emphasizes.

Who I'm voting for

So I've had more than a few people ask me who I'm voting for in November, and until a few days ago, I was decidedly undecided. I was one of those independents that liked McCain in 1999 and 2000 when he was bucking the party line and giving W a run for his money. I liked him in the primary, when he still had his maverick leanings, but had become concerned as he toed the party line more and more in an effort to court the conservative vote. Obama may be a little too liberal for my liking, but I felt that the country could use to move a little bit to the left and I felt that Biden was a solid VP pickup.

The two weaknesses of the Obama campaign in my mind are 1) it is full of rhetoric and not involved in the details, as Tenn. Gov. Phil Bredesen pointed out, and 2) there is no executive experience on the ticket. Neither Obama or Biden have been governors.

The weakness of the McCain campaign is that it has become too easy for Obama to tie McCain to a third Bush term and that McCain has lost his footing with independents, like me.

However, the pickup of Sarah Palin was a solid and unexpected move that will swing the independent vote. While she is much more conservative than my thinking, she strengthens the McCain ticket by adding 1) executive experience... she has been a mayor and a governor and 2) she revitalizes McCain's maverick image by her willingness to go against her own party and move toward reform.

I had hoped that there would be a governor on a ticket because while senators may have the ability to work rhetoric and tout their foreign policy credentials, they have never led. They have never stood singly accountable for the success/failure of their own actions. I feel that foreign policy is important in this election, but domestic policy is much more so. McCain has shown his ability to gain bipartisan support for legislation, and Palin has executive experience. Obama's speeches may amaze and awe, but they lack in the details. These are the lessons that Clinton learned in office, and a two-senator ticket won't cut it. Our most effective presidents in the last thirty years (agree or don't with what they've done) have been governors at one point. W, Clinton, Papa Bush, and Reagan to name a few. And we need a president that will get things done.

I hope that the Palin pickup will help McCain regain his maverick tendency and revitalize his campaign. I'll vote for McCain in November because I believe that he will be able to get done a majority of what he wants to do. My hopes are that he will have a bipartisan cabinet and work for the wellbeing of the nation. What do you think?