Aren't politics odd?

They are, and they're endlessly fascinating for me. I find it a bit amusing how people have voted so far in the primaries.

The conservatives haven't elected a conservative, and the liberals have gone incredibly far to the left (straight into socialist territory).

I ponder to myself why the Democrats would be fighting it out to elect a candidate so far to the left. Could it be that Obama and Clinton are the farthest away from the evil right, so they must be good? Maybe. Have the Democrats stopped thinking clearly and started to bow down for European-type socialism? Possibly. But I think that the real problem here is the left's hard on for pointless rhetoric. The right has this problem too, but it's not as bad as what we've seen lately with the Democrats.

Buzzwords like "hope" and "change" have become big, well, issues for the Democrats. This is all well and good, but shouldn't there be a little more substance in their campaigns? Promises of universal healthcare, getting the troops out of Iraq, their version of "fiscal responsibly" (which is their way of saying they'll be spending just as much as the current administration, but in different, much more popular areas).

It troubles me that in one of the early Democratic debates all of the candidates were asked a simple question: Raise your hand if balancing the federal budget is going to be one of your top priorities. I believe only two people raised their hands, and they weren't Obama or Clinton.

I'm a libertarian with very conservative fiscal views and some fairly liberal social views. Here's how my tiny little brain works:

1. Universal healthcare won't work

2. We need out of Iraq. Not because the strategy is not working, but because we can't afford it.

3. We need to cut spending. I'm talking CUTTING spending. The defense budget is obscene. We can protect our great country in a much more fiscally responsible fashion.

4. Pay our soldiers more and stop sending the National Guard troops overseas. Our troops risk their lives, come home, and are refused healthcare? This is shameful.

5. Stop socialism. I know that socialism has become a buzz-word that's not paid attention to, but we need to take a look at ourselves and think about why we're supporting socialist candidates. I'm not against all socialist programs. I love the postal service! They always get my Car & Driver to me on time. But that's about where I draw the line.

6. No more redistribution of wealth. I know that CEOs get paid too much, but unless you're a stockholder of that CEO's company, it's none of your business.

What's mine is mine. What's yours is yours. What's theirs is not ours. What's ours is not theirs.

How hard is that to understand? You're not entitled to my income, no matter how superfluous it is. You have no constitutional right to it, you have no moral right to it. If I chose to donate my money to worthy causes, that's my business. If I want to give my children my fortune, that's my business. If I want to give my family a large gift, that's my business. If I want to spend ludicrous amounts of my money buying expensive things for myself while other people can't afford to go to college, as big of a jerk as it makes me sound, that's MY BUSINESS.

It's none of your business, you're not entitled to my money, and your high taxes on income, both personal and corporate are hurting America. Oh snap, I said it.

Why is it that companies are moving their workforce to other countries? Yes, it is partly because of cheap labor, but I'd venture to guess that the main reason companies decide to make the switch is because the place in which they're moving has a much lower corporate income tax than America's. If we, I don't know, cut the corporate income tax rates they might be inclined to stay here despite the lack of cheap labor.

But back to the question I raised earlier.

Why is that the two parties are electing people who harbor views that are either very extreme (obama and Clinton) or very soft (McCain). McCain's views are not exactly the most conservative.

So why are we electing these people?

Comment and tell me what your opinions are.

By the way, I'm still rooting for Ron Paul. It's a shame he's been panned by the media powers to be.