<BR><BR> <BLOCKQUOTE class=replbq style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #1010ff 2px solid"> <div>STRAIGHT-TICKET VOTER PLEDGES BLIND LOYALTY<BR>By H. David Braswell, Tampa Tribune Letter to the Editor, Oct. 13, 2006<BR></div> <div>With midterm elections rapidly approaching, I'm preparing myself<BR>for the inevitable deluge of rabid, hate-mongering and patently illogical<BR>letters to the editor in our local newspapers.</div> <div><BR>The writers have little real interest in either the candidates<BR>themselves or the critical issues. Rather, their focus is ensuring that<BR>their party either gains or maintains power.</div> <div><BR>I refer to this group as "The Unthinking Electorate", and its members<BR>can be counted on to blindly base their vote on nothing more than party<BR>affiliation.</div> <div> Never mind if their party's candidate has engaged in any<BR>unethical or illegal behaviors, or whether the individual possesses the<BR>maturity,
experience, education or intellectual wherewithal to carry out<BR>the duties of the sought office. He or she belongs to their party, and<BR>that is all that matters.</div> <div><BR>Of course, any allegations even hinting at inappropriate behavior or<BR>incompetence on the part of the opposing party's candidate are to be<BR>accepted on their face.</div> <div><BR>It works like this: Your party's nominee, Candidate A, is a decent,<BR>warm, loving, conscientious, patriotic, God-fearing, highly qualified<BR>person who is ideally suited to become our next senator, governor,<BR>congressman, commissioner - whatever. He has done everything right and<BR>absolutely nothing wrong during his term in office. He is exactly what<BR>our city, county, state and nation need if they are to continue to<BR>prosper and receive God's blessings and protection.</div> <div><BR>Candidate B, on the other hand, is a despicable, cold, hate-filled,<BR>dishonest, traitorous, devil-worshipping,
incompetent moron who is not<BR>fit to serve in any elective office. Every single thing she has done<BR>since she was elected to office has been wrong. If she wins this<BR>election, our city, county, state and nation will suffer greatly and God<BR>will turn his back on all of them.</div> <div><BR>I may be exaggerating a bit, but you get the idea.<BR>I have friends who belong to the Republican Party and friends who<BR>belong to the Democratic Party. Almost to a man or woman, when I ask them about their voting "decision process", they say, "I vote for all the<BR>Republicans" or "I vote for all the Democrats."<BR></div></BLOCKQUOTE><p> 
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