Matt Meyer

I’m not a fan of morons.
I tend to stay away from voting for the Tea Party movement, and everything to do with Sarah Palin – the Republican Party’s best guess at what the country would look like if Rush Limbaugh got hold of the government. Even the Republicans that are more moderate – the ones that preach fiscal responsibility and still preach social change and freedom, lose to these Tea Party idiots every single time.
In Wyoming, with a few rare exceptions, the winner of the Republican gubernatorial primary goes on to be governor. Wyoming is full of Sarah Palin’s tea-bagging minions, and a lot of the candidates represented that political stance, even if they weren’t intelligent or qualified enough to hold that office.
The one candidate that was intelligent and qualified, Colin Simpson, finished fourth. Fourth. In a state with half a million people, the one candidate with any qualifications at all couldn’t even manage 20,000 votes.
Now I understand that the Republican Party is the “Taco Bell” option. People don’t vote Republican because they want a functioning Government (or healthy food in Taco Bell’s case); they vote Republican because they want to keep more money in their pockets. But what’s so wrong with a moderate option?
It’s possible to preach fiscal responsibility and not move back to the dark ages. Yanking funding from abortion clinics because of a religious idea? Sounds like a violation of church and state to me. Instituting the single worst piece of education reform in this country’s history (No Child Left Behind)? Sounds like we’re making an already under-funded public education system even worse. On top of all this, let’s go on a wild goose chase for weapons of mass destruction and fight a losing war on two fronts.
We can balance a budget without becoming a church state, and this country definitely does not need to be starting any new wars.
This Tea Party problem is even more evident in the upcoming presidential election, because the Democrats can’t offer up any better options. I’ll admit it, I voted for Obama, I was hoping for change. The idea of President Hockey Mom when McCain bites the bucket was also frightening. The only change Obama gave me was a change in the way I view politicians. If the best Obama can do to “revolutionize” a healthcare system that is in shambles, is to make me pay a private insurance company, well, he’s going to rival George W. Bush for the most misguided president of all time.
That’s why I’ve been sincerely hoping that the Republican Party offers up a moderate or at least somewhat intelligent option for President. You never read about moderate guys like Tim Pawlenty, the Governor from Minnesota. He balanced his state’s budget, while raising teacher’s salaries, and adding laws that are slowly moving the state towards alternative fuel sources.
Even slightly more well-known guys like Bobby Jindal or Mitt Romney are better than anything the Tea Party puts out and also better than four more years of “change” that I’ve lost all faith in.
This zealous, blind following of a radical conservative or liberal faction is literally tearing our country apart. People on the far sides of the political spectrum are literally the only ones who can become elected officials.
Because of the two party system, a third party candidate stands no chance in an election, and anyone who can cause any kind of real change is blocked from doing so, because they don’t “reach the roots (read: crazies) of the party.” No real change can happen until this country realizes people like Palin and Obama are not what we need.