A couple of weeks ago, Mitch Daniels, the republican candidate for Indiana governor, dropped by our office. He was here to talk with our president, Scott Whitlock, and representatives from manufacturing throughout the state. I got a chance to say hello and shake hands with him while he was here. He was not what I expected out of a politician. I thought he would be here on the hard sell tour. Instead, he was very laid back, spoke intelligently on topics that were relevant to us. I sent an e-mail to the Mitch Daniels campaign to see how he stood on a couple of issues that I thought were relevant. First, I asked about his policy on stem cell research. I think that we are too restrictive on our research efforts with stem cells. The methods of culturing and using stem cells is currently very limited. Countries like China have gone the other way, and opened the doors for extensive stem cell research. I think that we should do the same. This is an opportunity to learn a great deal about our bodies, and possibly develop new treatments. Mitch stands by the republican party line, though, which is for strict guidelines on the use of stem cells.
Another hot topic in politics lately is the subject of gay marriage. I feel that there is no good reason why our government should not recognize any marriage, and that includes gay marriage. I've never truly understood why our government recognizes any marriage. To me, marriage is a religious affair. Two people commit themselves to join as one in the eyes of the Lord. Our government's only stake in recognizing a marriage is to determine how to tax us. If two folks want the government to recognize them as one for the purposes of taxation, I don't understand why there is a problem if both people are of the same sex. If it is a gross out factor, then the government should have denied the Liza Minelli and David Gest wedding as well (talk about icky).
Mitch once again stood the party line on this one, and indicated that if the federal government ever recognized gay marriage that he would propose a change to our constitution to deny that union. Mitch making this decision doesn't bother me as much as knowing that this is how the majority of Americans feel. After all, our government is elected by the people, and so our government is only making decisions that the popular majority would agree with right? So from this I have to assume that the majority of Americans feel that gays have no rights in our society. After all, the laws against descrimination prohibit against using gender, race, or religion, but make no mention of sexual preference. I don't like the idea of allowing descrimination against any person, for any reason. This is supposed to be a free country where folks can live as they please.
I know a lot of you won't agree with me on this one, and that is okay. Part of living in a free country is having the freedom to disagree with each other. I wish I could vote against Mitch Daniels based on the reasons above. Neither of those questions have any direct effect on me, so perhaps they aren't the right questions for me to be asking to base my vote decision on. I do think they give an insight into the types of decisions the candidate would make in other situations though. I'm still uncertain of who will get my vote this year. Hopefully I'll find the right question between now and November to help me make that decision.
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