A political wish list for 2008

This column originally appeared in the Williston Observer on January 4, 2008.

A political wish list for 2008

After receiving a Christmas wish list from one of my sons, I was asked, "What's on your wish list, daddy?" While I can do without a WebKinz or an iPod, there are some things I wish for the coming year.

Politically, and this should be no surprise, I wish more than anything for a Democrat to take the presidential elections in November. I'm still not sure, however, who I'd like that Democrat to be, but I have my favorites.

I also wish, as the deluge of political ads continue, that we in Vermont are spared much of the negative mudslinging that pervades the airwaves in other states. Let the newspapers report on candidates' problems. I want to know why to vote for you, and not why I should vote against your opponent.

I wish that we, the people, would see the insanity of our primary system. It will be no surprise to me to see the next Iowa caucus held in December 2011 if we don't fix things soon, and it will take the people's outcry to fix it.

My favorite plan is to split the country into equal quarters, and hold primary elections in each quarter all at once, perhaps two weeks apart, rotating which quarter goes first each election cycle. As much as I love New Hampshire and think Iowa is a fine state, there is little reason either should always get first crack at the candidates.

I wish that we could see an end to the undeclared war in Iraq. The details can fill an entire column, but suffice it to say I don't see a complete pull-out as a viable option. The Iraqis, however, need to be in charge of their own destiny. We should help with that, but we need an exit strategy, yesterday.

For my state, I wish for a continuation to our snow season, to keep our winter industries going. But not so much snow that the kids have any more snow days!

I wish that Vermont would do away with civil marriage. I think marriage is something that only churches should bestow. The state still has an interest in joining couples, and to that end, I think that civil union should replace marriage. As shocking as this idea might first seem, it would solve a lot of problems and avoid a lot of needless debate.

I wish that we, as a state, would make a commitment to alternative power generation. There are a lot of great ideas out there for wind power, solar power, and cleaner nuclear power, and we should be on the vanguard.

This is a bit of an obscure wish, but I wish Vermont would follow its own constitution and house all of our prisoners in-state. It might be more expensive, but if we can violate Article 2, Section 64 of our own constitution, is any part safe?

This may come as a surprise - I don't know if I wish for a Democrat in the governor's chair. I think there is real benefit to having the legislative and executive branches at odds with each other. Negotiation leads to better laws than collusion.

Within Williston, I wish for a resolution, one way or the other, to issues like the Circ, the use of guns on public lands, and the disposition of the proposed landfill. I also wish that the people would come out and hear about the school budget and offer up objections and suggestions long before the budget comes to a vote.

Speaking of voting, I wish Williston could claim 100% participation of eligible voters or, at least, registered ones. There are still people in this world who die to cast their vote - we should take the obligations of citizenship more seriously.

Lastly, I wish that we would all take a few minutes and read our constitutions, both national and state. It doesn't take long and it's worth the time. Find out or rediscover your rights, then exercise those rights: petition your government and speak out on the issues. Let them know what's on your wish list.