Election Eve

[judecorp]

Wow, the election is, like, tomorrow and stuff. Which means I have to get up early to vote. Pesky job, making me, you know, work all day. Otherwise I could loiter around my polling place and bother people. That would be kind of fun.

I'm voting Green this year for president. I doubt my vote even counts here in Massachusetts, since 877298710879879 people will be voting for Kerry. And 2 people will be voting for Bush. And then someone will go egg their houses or something. (Okay, that's not true. There will be more than 2. And no eggs.) It's kind of nice being able to vote for a candidate I actually like, even if he doesn't stand a chance in hell of ever being president. Although part of me wishes I kept my Ohio info so I could absentee vote for Kerry over there. Aah well.

I'm really scared to watch the election results. I always get goofy and anxious when I watch the reports come in from the states, but I'm extra nervous this year. I'm nervous about the result of the election, but also the consequences of the result. I've imagined all sorts of crazy scenarios in my head.

Really, though, I just want a country I can be proud of, in a world that doesn't suck. Oh, and I want my marriage recognized through the Full Faith and Credit Clause like it's supposed to. Is that too much to ask?

Comments

[lemur68.livejournal.com]

part of me wishes I kept my Ohio info so I could absentee vote for Kerry over there.

We could sure use it, as well as the No vote on Issue 1.

[happy2beso.livejournal.com]

What's the Issue 1 in Ohio?

Is that the smoking ban?

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

No, it's the constitutional amendment stating marriage is between a man and a woman, and denying any and all benefits of marriage to any non-married couples.

Basically, it's the #1 reason we left and when it passes, the #1 reason we can't come back.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Yeah, seriously, don't even get me started on Issue 1. So, so sad.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Oh no, it has nothing to do with marriage. After all, same-sex marriage is legal here in Massachusetts. :)

I like the Greens in theory. They say a lot of the things I believe in, and even though I know that most of it can't be accomplished right now, I like that I can express my support without any disasterous election-spoiling consequences. It's nice not to have to vote lesser-of-two-evils Democrat, since I'm politically much more liberal than most Dems /and/ the current Dem presidential candidate is incredibly moderate (and therefore too conservative for me).

I believe in the Greens' quest for social justice, financial fairness, national healthcare, and all of that other bleeding heart socialist-type stuff. Eh, comrade? ;)

As for the 2-hours-for-voting thing, I'm quite sure my boss would give me 2 hours. Heck, my work is almost entirely flextime anyway, and I can schedule my appointments and obligations any way I want. But I'm all booked up for tomorrow - I set up for my playgroup at 9:00, then I duck out of playgroup from 9:30 - 10:00 for a meeting with another family, then back to playgroup until 12:00, then I clean the classroom, then write notes and eat lunch, then head to a home visit at 1:45, and another at 3:00, then another at 4:15, and by the time that's done at 5:15, I'll be exhausted and not terribly excited about heading home to the polls with all of the other after-work voters. I'd rather get up earlier and chill with the senior citizens!

[mayna.livejournal.com]

That's funny how Bush claims Kerry is THE MOST liberal senator in the senate, yet everything else points to him being a moderate liberal.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Especially right now, when he's playing to the middle like nobody's business! I really do believe that if he wins, he will move a little bit to the left eventually, but he's definitely a very moderate Democrat.

Yuck. I want a REAL Democrat, please.

[oxlahun.livejournal.com]

I've found that alcohol helps the election results. First off, 6 hours of trickling news is frightfully boring (and I suspect even Jon Stewart's coverage is gonna get old after a while). Second, depending on how things are going, you can either call it wild celebration or drowning your sorrow.

Down here in Philly, we're having our very own political party. :)

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

I don't think I'll be drinking my joys OR my sorrows away. I have an 8:30 home visit on Wednesday morning I have to get up and be presentable for! :)

But yes, I doubt I'll be glued to the TV all night, especially since I don't even have pay cable and therefore cannot watch John Stewart. So instead I will bite my knuckles and waste time on the internet til they call the election.

[lorac.livejournal.com]

You are welcome to come over and watch the election returns with us. I promise that I won't invite random strangers! :)

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Hee hee, random strangers.

I'll have to check with the boss, but I'm kinda wiped out and probably won't be going anywhere. But thanks!

[yotto.livejournal.com]

Although part of me wishes I kept my Ohio info so I could absentee vote for Kerry over there. Aah well.

Depending on which candidate you vote for, not only would it be possible here to Absentee vote (and still vote there), but you could probably vote 2 or 3 times. If you have any pets or dead relatives, maybe even more.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Hmmm, I wish I'd thought to register my cats!

[khaosworks.livejournal.com]

It's your choice, but I have to say that my nervousness still compels me to ask you to consider Kerry instead. Every vote counts. Unless you're in Florida.

Think Nader. My mind keeps flashing back to that Eddie Murphy routine in "RAW", where a bunch of white guys get drunk and say, "Hey, let's vote for Jessie Jackson! Hyuk hyuk, I just voted for Jessie Jackson!" and the next morning, "He fuckin' won?"

I guess I just don't want any margin for error.

[smurfbrother.livejournal.com]

Yeah, as much as the popular vote doesn't matter instrumentally, each individual vote does count towards Kerry's "mandate;" the higher his vote share, the less likely are court challenges.

[gimmeapony.livejournal.com]

I knew you'd be all up in dis post. :)

[lemur68.livejournal.com]

Excellent point.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

But you know as well as anyone else (or maybe better) that vote share doesn't mean jack aside from how it relates to the electoral college. We learned in 2000 that popular vote is not what counts... so my one Green vote really isn't going to mean diddly here in the 617.

And I reckon there will be all sorts of challenges /regardless/ of the outcome. It's going to be messy tonight.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

I appreciate your input, but I thought about this decision for several months and I chose what was right for me in the safest manner possible. Since I am in a position to not /need/ to vote for Kerry (someone I'm not terribly fond of, really), I didn't. I made my stand in Massachusetts so someone else doesn't have to in Ohio. And I feel good about it.

Be nervous. Be very nervous. It's going to be a shitstorm, I fear.

[shadist.livejournal.com]

Yeah too bad. . . However I think the more important vote would be against issue one.

God I hope this doesn't pass.

[prettyvacantone.livejournal.com]

You know it's going to, though, right? :( I hate it, but I've prepared myself for the idea that no matter how hard I hope with my little heart when I push that button...it's a lost cause.

[shadist.livejournal.com]

There is always hope.


And yes I know it isn't much of a hope. . . but sometimes it (and taking the fucking thing to court) is all you have.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Dude, it's going to. By a landslide. Prepare.

[shadist.livejournal.com]

I know.

It doesn't stop me from hopeing it doesn't.


Or the shame when it does.

[kjtoo.livejournal.com]

I'm voting Green this year for president. I doubt my vote even counts here in Massachusetts, since 877298710879879 people will be voting for Kerry.

I hope that you're in the minority in that respect. 877298710879879 Massachusetts voters adopting that attitude would be decidedly unhealthy for Kerry's Presidential hopes.

Voting your heart is certainly a romantic idea, but I'll sleep a little better at night knowing that I voted in a manner which might have actually made a difference.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

I believe that my vote made a difference, whether it was for Kerry or for Cobb. It might not have made a difference to you, and it might not make a difference in Kerry's chances. He is going to win here by a landslide. He has been a senator here for like a million years. I see Kerry signs all over the place, and every labor union and minority group is behind him. I'm not worried.

This isn't a Nader thing. I hate Nader. And when I lived in Ohio in 2000, I voted for Gore without reservation. And if I lived in Ohio today, I would vote for Kerry. But today I'm vote-swapping. Not only is Cobb my first choice, but it keeps some Green in a swing state from taking a vote away from Kerry.

I find it mildly offensive that you would imply that my vote this morning can't "make a difference." Just because my candidate can't win doesn't mean anything in terms of difference.

[kjtoo.livejournal.com]

In your own way, you're saying that your vote won't make a difference. Kerry will win Massachusetts whether you vote for him or not. "I doubt my vote even counts here in Massachusetts," you said, yet you're mildly offended that I would imply what you've outright declared.

I find it mildly offensive that you can believe that the incumbent must not be re-elected, yet leave the burden of voting for the one person who has a snowball's chance in Hell of defeating him to someone else.

To me, knowing that something must be done and simply leaving it to other people to do is irresponsible.

Of course every vote counts. Your vote counts in Massachusetts, where it could help Kerry win those electoral votes. The likelihood of every non-Bush supporter in Massachusetts deciding to vote for Cobb because "this is Massachusetts, and Kerry can't possibly lost Massachusetts" is less than slim, but the outcome of that unlikely scenario would be Kerry losing the MA electoral votes and possibly the presidency.

I don't know what "difference" you're hoping to make by voting for Cobb, but if it's just to send a message that you don't like the two-party system, then consider this:

I sent a letter to my Congressman, Steve LaTourette expressing my dismay at his voting in favor of amending the U.S. Constitution to define marriage as a union between one man and one woman. Last week, I received his response. He indicated that, while he does not believe the Constitution should be so amended, he voted for the amendment, knowing it would fail, to "send a message" to the so-called activist judges.

He voted for something he knew would fail to send a message. How many more people would have had to adopt that attitude before the vote that they all knew would fail actually passed?

There is a time to be idealistic and a time to be realistic. I believe that four more years of George W. Bush would be bad for this country. I also believe that John Kerry, whatever his faults may be, is a far better option. There is no ideal candidate for me this year. If there were, and it wasn't John Kerry, I'd vote for Kerry anyway. Ideally, I'd like to vote for someone else. Realistically, no one but Kerry has a chance against Bush. Voting my ideals, I probably would have abstained. Instead, I voted for reality, because I think that in this election - as in no other election in my lifetime - it's dangerous to do anything else.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Are you familiar with voteswap? It was set up to ensure that non-Bush votes in swing states went to Kerry (and non-Kerry votes in swing states went to Bush) by matching a third-party voter in a swing state with a two-party voter in a solid state. It was an agreement for the swing-stater to vote for the major candidate while the solid-stater could vote the alternative. It is a system that was set up to keep a lot of the third-party votes out of the contested states and therefore try to create a more certain electoral college win.

I believe this will make a difference.

Yes, I am saying that my vote for Cobb IN MASSACHUSETTS doesn't make a difference when it comes to the electoral college IN MASSACHUSETTS. However, my vote for Cobb is a vote for Cobb, the man I (and others) think would best run this country. My vote tells the two big candidates that I don't think /either/ of them is the right person for the job, that I don't think /either/ of them speaks to me, that I don't think /either/ of them has what it takes to run the country the way I think it should be run. AND, I'm saying that voteswapping my vote might MAKE A DIFFERENCE in the total picture of the election, because I (and others like me) are trying to ensure that swing states go the way we'd like them to go.

I know that there are a lot of people in Ohio who are kicking themselves today because they voted for Nader in 2000. Those people are heavily campaigning for Kerry, and I support them. And I know there are people in Ohio (and other swing states) who want to vote for Cobb or Nader today. And if MY VOTING FOR COBB guarantees THEIR VOTE FOR KERRY, then I think I've done a lot of good.

You can say my vote is dangerous, and that is your right. You can put words in my mouth, and that is your right. But you can't change my conviction any more than you can make me feel bad for doing what I believe is right. And even if Bush wins this election, I still won't feel bad. Because I gave it my best and most moral shot today.

In the long run, my vote makes a difference because it sends a message, while at the same time not jeopardizing the bigger picture. It doesn't get any better than this.