I have said that we seem to have three Republican Senatorial hopefuls vying to out-Trump one another. But it’s getting close to decision time for me: person plans require be to vote absentee if at all, and I’ve never not voted, nauseating as the exercise was some elections.
So I just spent some time reviewing three websites and sets of campaign ads. Impressions:
- Todd Rokita had some of the loveliest, most personal ads, including one about his firstborn son (born with a serious disability) and one by his wife on how they got together. That surprised me. He also had, hands down, the ugliest and most sinister ad of the three. Since I’ve known him to be a pretty shameless liar since his first race for Congress, and his immigrant-bashing continues that sleazy legacy, my slight uptick in regard for him as a human being is not enough to get my vote.
- Mike Braun has some cute ads about how indistinguishable the other two candidates are. But he also has some pretty hard-line ads and promises about immigrants that I find odious and somewhat dishonest. And he’s politically green, which I do not consider a plus. Probably not.
- Luke Messer, contrary to my impression, is careful to support the “Trump agenda” more than supporting Trump per se. His modulated voice on some symbolic measures to discourage illegal immigration is much more palatable than Rokita, and even Braun, promising harsh stuff. He reinterprets “build the wall” as “secure the border,” leaving open other alternatives. And Rokita’s ad about how Messer spoke truths about Trump’s temperament sway me toward Messer; Rokita is both confirming that Messer is sane and truthful and that he (Rokita) is playing for voters who will hear, see, and speak no evil of Trump. Messer probably gets my vote.
I’m still leaving open the possibility of a rare vote for the Democrat, Joe Donnelly, in the Fall.
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Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn’t go away.
(Philip K. Dick)
The waters are out and no human force can turn them back, but I do not see why as we go with the stream we need sing Hallelujah to the river god.
(Sir James Fitzjames Stephen)
Tipsy Teetotaler ن 