How did this happen?!?

They say the two things you should never talk about are politics and religion, because an argument is bound to occur. But I like to go against the norm, so I'll talk about both of them here. I'm a registered Republican. But I would classify myself as a Teddy Roosevelt type Republican, in that I'm pro environment. To make the discussion simple though, I don't think demonizing business, and making the discussion into an either / or proposition is the right thing. And finally, I am a Catholic, so I am pro life, anti death penalty, and believe in most of the Church's teachings. But again, on the matter of gay marriage, I'm somewhere in the middle of the argument. To make the argument simple again, I don't think government should be in the marriage business. But that's a simplistic explanation for my view, which isn't going to get much traction, so I am stuck at the ballot box voting for the side that least troubles me, which is true on most things.

Let's be honest. The State of California has been, and continues to be moving solidly into the Democratic camp. But even people I know (including family members) who are Democrats, aren't as left leaning as the Democratic party would like everyone to believe. Most of the citizens of the State are close to the middle, yet the political system usually only rewards candidates from both parties at the extremes. I'm writing this because I went to see Gavin Newsom at an event last week here in Fresno. I took some pictures and a video that I put on YouTube, and posted on my Posterous Blog. Now I have nothing against Democrats as people, but I don't think they should count me as one of their party's prime supporters.

So imagine my surprise this week when I got a lovely email from the mayor's wife, asking me to start a fundraising page called 'ActBlue,' raising money for Gavin's campaign. Now I'm sure this is boiler plate, but I thought we were trying to get past the whole Red / Blue divide in politics, and come together. In fact, at the event, I was surprised to hear Newsom's answer on some of the topics, because they are sure to anger some of the core voters in the Democratic Party. But he's advertising himself as that type of candidate. So the email from his wife isn't giving the same message, and was actually very off putting to me after taking the time to go out and see him. I know he's got to do some pandering to his Party to get the nomination, but still.

The other thing that was very surreal, was the fact that my video took on a life of its own. An independent organization catering to promoting a progressive agenda embedded my video onto their blog. Now I'm a little bit in awe of myself because this is the first ever video I posted to YouTube, and it seems to have found a minor audience. The group is using the video to point to the fact that maybe there is a candidate for change out there within the Democratic Party. I made the video to jump on the fact that maybe there is a candidate out there who once elected won't bow and scrape to the traditional Democratic interest groups. To each his own.

My grandmother, who really helped form my political beliefs, is quite possibly rolling over in her grave knowing that I'm talking about a Democrat from San Francisco for Governor. But right now, I'm a pragmatist, not an idealogue, and I think it's a good thing to explore all the options.