Since the demise of the late, lamented John Adams' iPod, your humble correspondent has had but a few limited outlets for his political musings. Sputtering incoherently to the person across from me at the bar is ill-conceived on a number of levels, not the least of which being that the thought processes of one's interlocutor have been altered precisely never by the putrid potency of halitosis and stale Bass ale. Twitter, well... quite simply, one does not Twitter. Finally, I think I speak for all when I say that those who know me have likely had quite enough of my clogging up their Facebook feeds with disjointed taunts and links.
Thus, a new blog, where one can voluntarily engage with these musings, or more likely, ignore them entirely. Either is fine, frankly, as I begin this venture only partly to make these musings available to others. The other half of the point is that I need to work some things out. First, and primarily, there is an enormously important presidential election coming up next year, and as of now, I have absolutely no idea for whom I'm going to vote. This blog will serve mostly as a way for me to honestly work this out. The added benefit is that I get to share this with those who care. I've often felt that my political beliefs, when not being outright derided by some of my friends, are distinctly misunderstood. I hope to not only explore who I'll end up voting for, but to explain how each candidate gels with beliefs I hold, and perhaps more importantly, why I hold those beliefs.
For those who read JAi, I want to be clear that I intend on making this a very different experience. The title of the blog notwithstanding, I take politics and policy very seriously, which may have not always been entirely clear in my previous undertaking. I intend to steer clear of snark (which will be enormously difficult), and hopefully to eschew minor stories and scandals, unless their exploration will serve a larger point. Whenever possible, I will strain to verify my assertions with links to credible sources, or to not make them at all, and I'd ask those that chose to comment do the same. As the well-worn trope goes, all are entitled to their own opinions, not their own facts. Let's honestly look at what was said or done, and go from there.
In the coming posts, I think I'll begin by noting and remarking briefly on those candidates who have declared for the race, and a few who haven't (or have declared that they won't be running). Since I don't anticipate a primary challenge to President Obama, this blog will necessarily focus almost exclusively on Republican or perhaps 3rd-party candidates until the eventual challenger becomes clear.
