Yesterday as I was voting this little old lady (I'm guessing in her 70s) next to me finished filling out her ballot, and as she started walking to the ballot box quietly muttered, "There, I voted. Now if I want to bitch, I can bitch." Such an awesome statement for our current political situation. I have no problem with that though (provided one votes - write in someone rather than not vote if you don't like the candidates), I'm just glad the ads are ending.
I think this quote from Daniel Gilbert has a surreal truth that makes it funny.
When people feel insulted or disgusted, they generally do something about it, such as whacking each other over the head, or voting.
It's from an article he wrote, which also has a funny title. Found it through one of Schneier's posts, which is also interesting. It seems the whole issue is a variation on control vs can't control, being that which people perceive can be controlled, vs those things that are perceived as being uncontrollable.
While I was looking at the web sites of different candidates in the primary, I found a rather annoying trend. Too many don't really say anything other than that they want the position. One I saw even looked like a geocities site from the 90s. However, many have introduced an "Issues" section, which seems like a great thing at first. But in looking at the sites, it seems everyone has the same 4-6 issues, and list that they are important and need to be handled. The problem is most don't say how. I could see maybe not having details on a couple pending finding out available resources and options, but say that and at least give a general indication of the direction they'd like. I think it's great that more people are sick of the existing politicians and think they can do better. Unfortunately thinking one can do better without having actually thought of or being willing to state how doesn't help a lot. Even more unfortunate is most people will just think "oh, they care about that" and assume based on party or other reasons that are just as ridiculous that they will agree with the candidate.
That said, MN primaries are Tuesday. Find the candidates in your area and search a bit. The 3 "major parties" all have multiple candidates at the state level (senate), and within the metro it appears several areas have competition within parties for senate and/or house positions. As the primary determines who's on the general election ballot, you may want to consider the party of your voting in the primary, as you may not want to vote for the same people who you'd necessarily want in office. For example if you're OK with anyone from a certain party (hopefully not just because they're in that party), but you have a strong preference of a certain candidate in a different party, you may want to cast your primary votes in that party. Voting one way in the primary doesn't mean you have to vote for the same people in the general election. So make sure you vote on Tuesday.
Copyright ©2000-2008 Jeremy Mooney (jeremy-at-qux-dot-net)
