10/06/2004 10:54:00 AM|||Joe|||Holy crap I'm glad the next debate is on Friday. I work Tue and Thu evenings, so I catch the replays on C-Span. Therefore, I'm tired as hell.

Just doing my civic duty, ma'am.

Anyway, this one was pretty exciting, as debates go. I wish I could have had a bloody steak and a 6 pack of beer for it. I'm not sure who won this one. I'll want to re-watch it.

One point — Mr. Cheney claims to not know why the Democrats and Republicans are so divided. I can't speak for everyone, but I have an idea. I'm only 26 years old, and have only been paying attention to politics for 8-10 years. But isn't it possible that the Democrats are still deeply angry at the Republicans for their vicious, unyielding attacks on Clinton? That people like Newt Gingrich and Karl Rove don't play fair and purposely lower the level of debate to name-calling?

I know I am still very angry about the attacks on Clinton. I'm not just talking about the impeachment. They went all-out with everything they could. They weren't just noticing things and then pursuing them — they were actively looking for anything they could. Has Bush been scrutinized? Yeah. But not at the level that Clinton was. His National Guard duty has been closely looked at. That seems to be at least topically relevant, though.

Either way — the Republicans dug into Clinton's personal life. Not because they thought his infidelity was necessarily wrong (or if they did, they were hypocrites, like Gingrich), but it was something they could attack him on. They couldn't stand Clinton — they just hated him, and they made no bones about it.

Now, am I being a hypocrite here? Many Democrats hate Bush. They say he's stupid and/or evil. Personally, I think he's neither (and I really wish people would stop calling him stupid — at best, it makes Democrats look uppity and ugly; at worst it means we underestimate him), though I do question his competency and ethics. There's a difference. I think he's horribly inconsistent, and I don't even mean in some vulgar flip-flop way. I mean in very fundamental and significant ways. But I didn't agree with everything Clinton did either. But I digress.

The question was — Why are we so divided? I'm not saying my explanation is the whole reason, but it is part of it. Until Republicans can concede that they really went overboard, I'm always going to see them in that light. Always.

Here's a short and kind of analogous story: My grandmother was at Pearl Harbor when it was bombed by the Japanese. She was on her way to church with her brother. A couple years ago, I mentioned in her presence that I donated money to the American Red Cross after 9/11. She was upset by this. She spoke of them like they were a bunch of scumbags. I was very confused until she told me that while the Red Cross did provide aid, they charged money for it. They charged for blankets. Directly. Like, you were lying on the gymnasium floor or whatever, trying to sleep, and you're cold. They offer you a blanket, but you have to pay for it.

All these years later, she still sees them that way. Maybe her attitude can change, maybe not. But she experienced this stuff at a crucial time in her life and she'll always see them in that light.

I grew up with Bill Clinton as my president (from about 14 to 22, roughly), and I saw how those jackasses treated him. That probably singlehandedly thwarted my parents' attempts to raise me into a nice, good Republican. We all have character flaws; some worse than others. But I never doubted that Clinton was a basically decent man. I read the Starr report. Seriously. And I became more sympathetic to Clinton than before I read it.

The Republicans raked him over the coals, and I'll always see them in that light. I know that some Republicans will just never understand why I and others feel this way — it's not just us booing them for going after our guy. It's much more than just that.

I'm not rude to Republicans. But they have a lot of ground to make up for me to respect them as a party and as a movement. As it stands, I think whatever good they may do will be tainted by their methods. I'm not a utilitarian.

Anyway, like I said, I can't speak for everyone, but that's why I think Democrats have a hard time working with Republicans.|||109704210054196028|||VP Debate