Politics

As a result of broadcast television and my increasing presence on the internet, I find myself slowly paying attention to U.S. politics.

My wife is politically very opinionated and this was “her thing” when we met and were getting to know each other. “My thing” was poker. “Our thing” turned out to be travel and movies. As couples grow together, it is natural to share more ideas and interests. My Mom picked up my Dad’s interest in contract bridge and financial markets. Similarly, I find myself more curious about national domestic politics.

The bridge to this world is an attempt to understand human nature. Human nature has become a recent amplifier of financial market shifts. Understanding how people think is similarly relevant for success at the poker tables. As I pay attention to the convention acceptance speeches, I am most drawn by the points raised to resonate with the human condition of undecided voters.

For the most part, registered democrats vote democrat and registered republicans vote republican. With race and gender more poignant in the 2008 race, it may come to pass that minority republicans will vote democrat and women democrats may vote republican. In terms of improving the daily lives of Americans or the position of America on the world stage, there are no truly polarizing issues.

Abortion and Gun Control have been the most polarizing issues in the past two decades. Living on Colorado’s Front Range, I have also had a front row seat as environmentalists clash with business growth to create jobs and opportunity. Certainly appointing Supreme Court Justices will have implications for the next generation of Americans. However at the end of the day, my opinion is that people act (and vote) with their hearts more than they do with their heads or their wallets.

It is in this vein that I see the McCain-Palin ticket more endearing than the Obama-Biden ticket.