I wish I could take credit for naming the mother in law principle of politics, but that honor goes to my father; who is still one of the smartest, most informed people I have ever known and who at 70 is still a border democrat. (That is he will vote for a democrat if they are running for the border..something that happened here in Texas a few years back). So what is this principle? Well it is really quite logical.
When I got married I didn't get to pick my mother-in-law, when I vote I do.
The party is what comes with any candidate that we elect, the party platform, its flaws, faults and fobbiles as well.
Think about it for a minute, when I married my husband I did not get to choose his mother, or the course her life would take, nor how it would effect mine. I did not know at the time that she would stop working to care for her aging mother, losing everything. I did not know at the time that when her Mom passed away that she would move in with us for all eternity, at 59 with no income, no insurance and plenty of needs. I married my husband and inherited his mother with my vows.
When we vote for a candidate we inherit his/her mother, ie his or her party. We get the mother-in-law as well. In the case of the Republican party we get a mother-in-law like mine, no ideas, no insurance and mighty damn expensive with no means to pay for it because of the party's old, tired ideas about taxes, the free market and wealth. In the case of the Democratic party we get a mother-in-law, that is innovative, creative and willing to work to change the status quo. We get a party that is not content to live in the front bedroom and leech off of the country.
I frequently point out, especially here in Texas, where there are still a few Democrats thinking of sitting out the election or voting for McCain; that while we do vote for individuals, we get the party as well, just like when we marry we inherit the in laws. Sometimes this is effective with the I vote for the individual, not the party voter too; when they consider their own mother-in-law, and if they have a hassle free mother-in-law, well then offer them mine.
I do love my mother-in-law, she is a good woman. She is just not what I signed-up for when I married.