Posting Towards Gomorrah

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Originally posted by Spanky
To my fellow Republicans:

Please follow my example and vote Republican this November:

The November general election is always a simple exercise for me. In the primary I research the candidates, but in the general election, at least for partisan office, the choice is always simple. I just pick the person with an R next to their name. People always say to me; “shouldn't you research the candidates?” “How can an educated guy like you be so dogmatic about how you vote?” However, to me it makes perfect sense. The party affiliation one chooses says everything I need to know about their candidacy. There is a basic philosophical difference between Republicans and Democrats that I believe out weighs any other considerations.

This philosophical difference is no where more distinct than in education policy. In the Los Angeles School District they have what is called the "Dance of the Lemons". A principle is kept at a school until the parents complain so much that he or she has to be moved. Once the complaints get overwhelming the district simply transfers the incompetent principle to another school, and then replaces him or her with an incompetent principle that has just been pushed out of another school. The incompetent principles just keep getting transferred from school to school indefinitely. The result of this policy is what they call the "Dance of the Lemons". When you hear examples of such incompetence, you know that no Republican, if they could make the call, would ever create such a system. Only Democrats could concoct such a system.

A Republican instinctively wants a system of education that focuses on educating children. A Democrat views our education system as an opportunity to provide a job corp. program for teachers and bureaucrats. The tenure system has got to be one of the dumbest ideas every invented. Why on earth would we ever have a system that allows incompetent teachers to stay employed? Most Republicans think we should support teachers and pay them well, but that is only the teachers that are competent. Would a Republican ever come up with a system that protects incompetent teachers? Of course not. Every time a proposal is put forward to either figure out which teachers are doing their job, by testing, or ways to get rid of the bad apples, the California Teachers Association, and hence the Democrats oppose it.

Democrats also see the education system as an opportunity for indoctrinating students in ways they view as beneficial, as opposed to simply teaching them how to read, write and do basic math. Republicans instinctively understand that you only promote or graduate students that have learned something. However, the California Teachers Association and the Democrats always defend social promotion. In other words, keep moving the students up through the grades even if they aren't learning anything. Only a Democrat could endorse such a ludicrous idea.

I hear all the time; “well you disagree with the Republican candidate on so many issues, how can you vote for them?” No candidate is ever going to agree with me on one hundred percent of the issues. The only person that I will ever find that agrees with me 100% on all the issues is me. The important question is which candidate shares similar policy goals with me on most of the important issues, and the answer is, always the Republican.

A refrain I often here from Republicans is; “well I generally vote Republican but I have met my local State Senator (or Assemblyman) and they are so nice and seem competent so I am going to vote for him or her.” When I hear statements like that it is like hearing fingernails being scraped on a chalk board. Your representative may be competent and smart, but when it comes to the legislature the most important vote they will cast in their term is who they will vote for to be majority leader. No matter how nice or competent your local legislator seems, if they are a Democrat, they will vote for a majority leader that will tolerate and even promote policies that will create a "Dance of the Lemons" and social promotion type education policies.

So the issue is do you want a legislator that is nice to you and sends you Christmas cards, or one that will vote in a majority leader that will try and fix our screwed up educational system? I don't care how nice or amiable my local legislator is, or how familiar he or she is with issues, or whether or not I am related to them, I just want one that will support a majority leader who pushes for competent governance. When viewed from that perspective, the only choice is the Republican.

I also often hear from Republicans, “well I voted for Schwarzenegger, but I also vote for the Democrat State Senator or Assemblyman because he or she is so competent or seems like a good person.” That constant refrain also burns me up. That is like pushing Arnold into the ring but tying both of his hands behind his back. If you really want to help Arnold turn the state around you need to elect a legislator that will support him. If you vote for a Democrat legislator you are simply undermining the man you think you are supporting.

I may have significant policy differences with many Republican candidates, but in the end, I know that the Republicans hold to the same central core values that I do. If you want to see education reformed for the better in this state, vote Republican. If you want to see Arnold accomplish what he wants to accomplish, vote Republican. It is that simple.

I find this kind of creepy, and I don't think it's just because I almost never (but not never) vote R. It seems like an example of total partisan bullshit. Especially if you are talking federal as well as state gov't. Which you must be, if you are addressing this to Hank and Bilmore and other non-Calis.