As for straight ticket voting, I do not believe that I can look someone in the eye and tell them that the Democrats are the answer to all that ails them. I may not be religious, but I do have scruples.
Meanwhile, lacking any convictions myself and having failed utterly in my last foray into belief, all I know is what I see and what I feel right now. And I’ve got a bad fucking attitude. Probably because I’m a sore loser.
All politics is local, they say, and while I don’t quite follow the discussion concerning trade deficits, I do understand what goes on in my home town. And I will vote this year, not so much because I believe that I count, but because I believe that if the government is good enough to consult me every now and then about who I might want to have governing me, then I have a duty not to let the opportunity to be heard pass by. The thread holding the social contract together has frayed mightily over the past 4 years; an opportunity to vote preserves the illusion it is still intact. It may still be intact. That is, I don’t think that anarchy rules. Yet. But then, I live in the suburbs.
I will probably not vote on November 2nd. I will probably vote early. In Texas, we can vote “early,” a form of absentee voting in which voting machines are placed in a dozen or so selected locations about town for a two-week period just prior to election day. These polling places are open from 8 a.m. to about 5 or 6 p.m., depending on the day, and some Saturdays, enabling voters to vote at their convenience rather than go all at once and wait in line on the big day. These early votes are tabulated first and reported first on the big night, after the polls close. I typically vote early because that close to election day, my mind’s usually fairly well made up. And, I was told once by a lawyer friend of mine (not Dennis) that if you vote early, but get run over by a bus between the time that you vote and election day, your vote will still count. Despite my near certainty that I, alone, do not have the power to affect in any way the outcome of this election, I am intrigued at the idea of potentially being able to affect something after I’m deceased. Or at least stick everyone else with my erratic choices, made in a fit of pique, because I am a sore loser who lacks a core belief system.
I know that I will vote Republican in at least two of the local races. Why?
The Democratic candidate in one of these races, a judgeship, is an obsequious woman who’s been running for various local judge positions almost as long as she’s been practicing law. If she practices law at all, which is dubious, because she’s been so busy angling for the bench. I met her a few times at party functions last year and loathed her instantly. Her opponent, a Republican, was appointed by our unpopular governor to fill a vacancy, and he has spent the last couple of years or so credibly applying the law to the facts of the cases before him. The Democrat will win, however, and the county will lose the services of a reasonably fair judge who manages to interpret the law rather cogently, despite his political affiliation and the circumstances of his appointment.
The Democratic candidate in the other race is very, very old and should have retired this year, but didn’t, because the fellow who announced for his office in the primary was a political enemy, and the incumbent felt that he just had to beat the challenger for spite. Besides, he’s one of those Democrats who’s really a Republican, but had to run as a Democrat to get elected. So, we’ll end up with a Republican in that office either way. Hah-hah.
As I write this, I’ve heard a rumor that a local Green will challenge both the Republican and the Democratic candidates running for one of the highest offices in the county. If that turns out to be the case, I will probably vote for him, because the Democrat tries to please everyone, not take too many risks and be too safe politically. The Green is a straight up, in your face, type of guy. No prevaricating, he says what he means and you know where he stands. That’s all I ask for in a candidate. Of course, he’ll go down in flames if he runs, but he’s got my vote. And, as I typically do, if I am confronted with a choice between a Green and a Republican for some office, and there is no Democrat in the race, I will definitely vote for the Green. I’d probably be inclined to vote Green in a three-way contest with a Democrat, too, just for spite, if nothing else. Dennis is right, I’ll read a long ballot, but I don’t pretend to know who all the candidates are or what they stand for. That’s why party affiliations are so handy. You can generally count on Greens to be environmentalist lefties and Republicans to be assholes, and in a race where you know nothing else, rules of thumb are as valid as fact.
But what of the fate of the Republic? Four more years and four more wars for Bush or four for Kerry, the Democratic candidate selected by a small percentage of a fraction of the farmers and unemployed mill workers in the sparsely-populated Midwestern state of Iowa?
Or Nader? Or Cobb?
I live in Texas, which will go for Bush, notwithstanding the highest hopes of my eager Democrat friends. I do not think Nader is going to be on the ballot, and I personally believe the man is turning into a parody of himself, although I still agree with much of what he says, except his stance (or lack thereof) on women’s issues.
I’m close to flipping a coin in the voting booth and letting fate decide whether I vote for Kerry or Cobb. I lack strong belief in the abilities of Kerry or Cobb or anybody to undo the mess made in the last four years. A vote for Kerry would be a vote against Bush, and not much more. But a vote for Kerry is a vote to perpetuate the yin and yang of American politics (or is it the Arabs and the Israelis of American politics?): the two-party system. [Ed. Note: Even the brutal Israelis and savage Lebanese have discovered parliamentary politics.] A vote for Cobb would be a vote against the Arabs vs. the Israelis concept of politics, and would be a choice, but I know nothing about the man, except that he is a Texan and a lawyer. Considering my last conversation with Dennis, who is also a Texan and a lawyer, these qualities alone do not recommend the man, particularly. I don’t follow Green politics too closely, but I’ve always liked the idea of third parties, going all the way back to John Anderson, who I voted for, too, for reasons I no longer remember. This country needs more, not fewer, political parties, and it is my understanding that to remain viable as an organized party, the Greens need to attract a certain percentage of votes in every election.
In the end, living in Texas means my vote for the national candidates will not matter. So, it comes as a relief to me to know that my own personal responsibility for the ultimate fate of the Republic will be close to nil. The bee’s on everyone else this year. I already did my bit for the primaries, which, I think, are all that count in the long run. I can afford now to flip a coin or even ignore the whole thing.
And, ultimately, I think it’s a shame that, these days, my voting decisions are reduced to these types of analyses. Because I have heard of Greenland and I can find it on a map, even if I am a sore loser.
Ann Keller lives in El Paso, Texas with 4 cats and a dog with a skin condition. She tries to avoid encounters with Democrats, if possible.