well, that is a good question, SaulGoldie. I am a Republican, but the whole gay stuff as well as the Pro-life stuff seem like issues that are personal business and do not belong in the political arena. Somehow the Republican party has decided to pander to the ultra-conservative religious right, moral majority, etc whatever you want to call them and the pure fact is that money talks. Votes talk. It is a damn shame that it is this way but it is.

Having said this, I feel that the Democrat party does just the same stuff, but caters to a set of different values. But make no mistake, the same rhetoric is involved, idle hollow promises. I am a fiscal conservative with very moderate or liberal social leanings. I meet many many people who feel similar to me, and I have always thought there is a place for a middle party or at least candidates who seem to be more moderate. The trend right now, to me at least, is candidates who are far to the left or right being more popular. I would have liked to have seen a moderate democrat candidate who I would have supported, but to me, John Kerry is the exact opposite extreme, and it is pretty academic which is preferable, A fascist or a communist.