COLUMN: Political Pet Peeves That Dominate Daily

Editor’s Note: With news being a little slow, my column this week will be dedicated to political pet peeves that need to be eliminated. I will try to crank out a Wyandotte County column this week, but it is a little difficult.

Being a political junkie, I love the campaign season. I read numerous blogs weekly and I checkout Web site reports daily on the Obama-McCain race, and local races.

However, politics is not always fun. Some of it can be quite annoying. Here are a number of pet peeves that annoy me on any given campaign, whether it is national or statewide.

• Campaigning on bipartisanship: Listen, if holding hands and singing Kumbaya between Democrats and Republicans is your idea of good politics, that is fine. However, I prefer the passionate exchange of ideas and for my candidates to stand for something. I absolutely disagree with Ted Kennedy’s politics. At the same time, I appreciate his desire to stand up and declare himself a proud liberal. He stands for something. Newt Gingrich stood up for something with the Contract With America. Gingrich stood for something. These days, you rarely see politicians fight hard and declare what they stand for. It is much needed. Bipartisanship might be nice, but new ideas are even better.

• Candidates running as the next (former president): Every time I hear Obama supporters call him the next JFK or any Republican compare himself to Reagan, I throw-up a little in my mouth. Future politicians need to run as themselves and look to establish their own impact on America. Did Teddy Roosevelt say he would run as the next Lincoln? Did Reagan say he would run as the next Jefferson? Did FDR say he would be the next Washington? Great presidents have sought to establish their own legacy – not to run on one.

• Enough with holding babies or young children: Listen, I know using kids or babies makes you look friendly and compassionate to a crowd. But honestly, does the kid have any idea what is going on? The passionate issues children care about are cereal, cartoons and video games. The voting blocs are Lucky Charm Supporters, Cheerios Supporters and Count Chocoula Supporters. It is certainly cute, but enough with the kids. They probably think Osama bin Laden is a character on their World of War Craft game. About 95 percent probably have no clue who you are, so stop using them in ads.

• Forget the candidate who would have a beer with you: None do and no one will ever do so. If the President of the United States would ever have a beer with me, I would vote against him the next go around. I want my president to be concentrated on lowering my taxes, balancing the budget and increasing America’s dominance around the world. I do not want him having drinks with me. While I consider myself a pretty good guy, the president should not spend a few hours with me. Ever. Oh, and why would anyone think he or she would have a beer with you anyway? Seriously? This argument is such non-sense.

• Changing or adjusting positions is not always flip-flopping: I covered this here earlier in the week, but let me hit it one more time. Adjusting or adapting is something humans do for survival. The same applies to politics. If a situation is worsening or get better, views should change. However, for the past eight years, there has been a knee-jerk reaction to any change and equating it with flip-flopping. It is not always the case.

• Candidates need to stop distancing themselves from their own campaign spokespeople: In this category, Obama and McCain have been exceptional. Whether it is Obama saying something along the lines of “that’s not the _______ I used to know” or McCain constantly distancing himself from Phil Gramm, it is a little tiresome. Have some political spine and defend them. Or better yet, have some political smarts and not use them during the campaign.

• Can we leave the wives and kids alone? Look, I know Michelle Obama has said some things that she probably should not have. However, she has no control over policy. Who cares what she says? Who also cares about how Cindy McCain made her wealth? It is not war profiteering, so who cares how the McCain's acquired their wealth? Seriously.

• Should the fact that John McCain does not use the computer a lot freak me out? Like the beer thing, presidents should not spend time surfing the web and look for blogs. Again, I would hope my president would have better priorities than watching YouTube and posting on message boards. Is it a little out of touch with this generation? Sure. But diplomacy is not performed on the web.

It is certainly a complete list of complaints and grievances. Feel free to add your own.