Idle thought passing through my mind as I drove a looooooooooong way home from field work today…
Given my location, am I completely out of touch with the voting public, and would I be completely unelectable?
I am 34, with an advanced science degree, and I’m beginning work on a PhD next year.
I am pretty socially liberal. Strongly for gay marriage. Have smoked pot (and a few other recreational chemicals,) not ashamed of it. Despise racism (yet think Affirmative Action is stupid, stupid, stupid.) Atheist (but not overly anti-religious. Let people worship what they want.)
I’m totally against the move toward Fundamentalism and theocracy (as I see it) in this country. Am totally convinced of the factuality of evolution. Think Intelligent Design is a cynical lie cooked up by would-be theocrats.
Abortion? Tough call. I haven’t made up my mind, but I lean toward Choice (but I have a strong emotional reaction against abortion.)
I’m completely against the War in Iraq, and I think it’s quite reasonable to call for Bush’s impeachment based on demonstrable lies during the run-up to war.
Fiscally, not so liberal. I’m borderline Libertarian on this one, but don’t believe in some of the Lib extremes of property ownership. Taxes should be cut. Government should stay the fuck out of people’s lives. All Blue Laws, sodomy laws, etc. should be struck down yesterday. Drugs should be legalized and regulated. On the liberal side, I believe the defense budget could use some of the fat trimmed, and the money should go toward education, national parks, infrastructure, etc. Believe the space program is desperately underfunded, and one of humanity’s greatest sources of hope.
I believe welfare should be cut down and overhauled. There’s far too much abuse of the system. Money should be put into work programs.
There should be no such thing as illegal immigration (except possibly criminals.) Our ancestors came here, by and large, looking for a better life. We already depend on immigrants. We should allow them the chance to get rich and settle in.
So would I be completely unelectable? Would I get my ass handed to me by a “Gumby” write-in? Would I disappear and be fed to a wood chipper somewhere in the woods long before election day?
What say you?