It’s no grand surprise:  Jerry Brown will be governor of California, again.  His opponents will tell us to now “hide our wallets,” and I fear this may not be far from the truth.  On the other hand, we saw one of the largest statewide sales tax increases under Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger’s watch.  So if we see some tax cuts under Democrat Brown, then both parties will have gone against their own grains.  We shall see.

Politics continues to be defined by two, and basically only two, labels:  Republican and Democrat.  It seems increasingly difficult for any thinking person to call himself one or the other.  The keyword here, of course, is “thinking,” because non-thinking people can easily consume whatever their party happens to serve them, without asking questions.  I’ve heard it from both sides:  “I’m a Democrat,” or “I vote Republican.”  In these instances, it’s about the label to which these people have adhered throughout their lives, rather than an examination and evaluation of the individual candidate who happens to carry the label.  Partisanship may make voting easier, but it does not necessarily make it smarter.

As I discussed with a friend yesterday, I have voted for a pretty even mix of Republicans and Democrats throughout my relatively short voting history.  I really cannot call myself strictly a Republican or a Democrat, through I certainly have opinions on most issues and definitely lean in one direction on each of them.  Depending on the issue at hand, I’m very conservative, or Republican.  Then, on other issues I consider myself very liberal, or Democrat.  It’s all comes together to create an interesting and ever-evolving identity.  My friend called me the proverbial New England Conservative.  I wonder, perhaps, if this translates to Libertarian.

The House now goes to Republicans, while the Senate maintains control of the Senate.  The continuous call for “change” is rather ironic, because change is inevitable.  Change is going to happen whether it’s wanted or not.  Another election has come and gone, but the game remains the same.

And that’s my opinion.