See? I'm not stupid

This presidential election has facinated me beyond all others. I am normally a one-issue voter. I am decidedly pro-life and I vote that way. That usually makes elections easy, as usually one candidate shares my opinion and the other doesn't. And that is true this time around, too, but now I like the other candidate better, on a personal level. So I am faced with the situation of voting for a candidate "I'm not feelin'," in order to support an issue I think is way more important than wars or economies or any of the rest.

But along this road, I have also felt an attitude from some that I would be "stupid" to vote for this person. I read political stories in the newspapers and the reader comments say as much. "How could anyone be so stupid to vote that way?" I'm not stupid. I have a very good reason for voting that way. And I can feel myself getting defensive. Why isn't my reason for voting a certain way as valid as yours is for voting another way? Why can't you see I've thought about it and made a rational choice? These are the things I think.

And now there's this. It's an essay by Jonathan Haidt called WHAT MAKES PEOPLE VOTE REPUBLICAN? He's a psychologist and I was facinated by his theories. And I was grateful for his conclusion. I'm not stupid. I haven't been duped, I'm not delusional (as one New York Times reader said in a post). So I would encourage everyone to read it.

And, you may as well read this Judith Warner blog where I discoverd the essay in the first place.