Sheeple Ruin The Election Cycle For Everyone
Left, some protestors of 2012 clearly have no idea who Hitler was.
I’ll never get used to sheep.
My mother’s family is comprised of German and Swiss dairy farmers, and my father’s side is Milwaukee Irish, so my first exposure to a herd of sheep was on Saturday morning cartoons. And despite having attended nearly 100 political rallies during my writing career, I still feel like Sam the Sheepdog, just trying to quietly blend in.
Recently I covered the Obama Heartland Tour stop at Pfiffner Park (which pointedly did not feature Mr. Obama) where I encountered some 60 folks who came to rally the Democrat cause.
I expected a typical reelection rally, where speakers lauded the president’s achievements. Instead, I heard speakers blame Republicans for an imaginary pro-life stance that our nation settled nearly sixty years ago and personal remarks on the character of some currently- elected conservatives.
I was also informed by a 9 year old that “Obama rules and Romney drools”, and by a Democratic representative that Mitt Romney would return our nation to the 1900’s.
I was also approached by one woman who prodded into my personal political beliefs, telling me voting the Democratic ticket made you a “good American”.
None of these folks could give me specific facts to back up their beliefs, which make them dangerous individuals solely because they are acting on either incorrect or incomplete information.
I encountered a similar similarly disparagingly closed mindedness at Wednesday night’s candidate forum @1800 Theater. Roughly forty people came to listen to the candidates who appeared: State Senate candidates Scott Noble and incumbent Julie Lassa, and Assembly District 71 candidate Katrina Shankland.
Scott Noble was the lone conservative candidate in appearance. People literally gasped aloud when he dared to speak the words, “free market economy”, and one woman guffawed and nearly fell from her chair when Noble used the phrase, “limited government”.
I make no judgment either way. I don’t endorse Republicans, just as I do not endorse Democrats. But the total lack of respect shown during these and other recent political events, and towards various candidates, is at best akin to behavior in a junior high locker room.
I long for a candidate of any political affiliation who will not rest his/her campaign on another’s misgivings or differences.
Shankland’s opponent, Patrick Testin, did not appear at the forum.
That’s a shame because hearing only one side of an issue is the worst possible method of learning.
-BM