(no subject)

[zanzjan]

I spent last night hoping that either Obama or Hillary would do something stupendously excellent (let slip on the air that George Bush is a dumbass, or announce a *real* intent to pursue universal health care) or something stupendously bad (bite the head off a kitten, be seen walking around in a Yankees jersey) so that my decision could be more clearly made. Alas, there came no moment of sudden clarity.

In the end, I couldn't really bring myself to vote for either. I had too many reservations about each, and the differences between them were too few. Sure, I'd take either one in a heartbeat over anyone running on the other side, but I would've been much happier with more than a few of the other Democratic contenders who've already dropped by the wayside.

Rather than not vote, I voted for the person who best embodied my ideals: Kucinich. My thinking is that this way I am not tipping the balance the weight of my meager one voice for either of the two remaining contenders, but I *am* saying: hey, these are the values that are important to me as a voter. One likes to hope that, at least a smidgeon, whoever comes out of this race as the party candidate will see the weight of where votes went and consider those voices for Kucinich and Dodd and Edwards and realize that's part of the democratic base they shouldn't ignore.

Well. So probably it was a useless vote, but I couldn't figure out what else to do.

Comments

[infinitehotel.livejournal.com]

This is why it's useful to be registered independent in Massachusetts. I couldn't find it in me to really get excited about the differences between Clinton or Obama, so I voted Republican, a race where I had some feelings on the candidates.

[miwseshat.livejournal.com]

Well, I ended up voting for Obama, not because he was so different than Hillary, but because if Hillary gets the nomination, Ralph Nader is going to run, which will split the Democrats and we end up with 4 more years of Republicans. Which I am not sure I can take. Ralphy will not run (supposedly) if Obama gets the nomination.

[zanzjan.livejournal.com]

Nader is enough of a f*cking asshole that I'm not in any way convinced he won't run anyway. He's already formed an exploratory committee and possibly already started fund-raising, from what I've read.

I'm also not sure that nearly as many people as voted for Nadir last time would do so this time -- gods, one would hope we've learned something since then?

But yeah, if I could've brought myself to vote for either one of the two it would almost definitely have been Obama.

[p-j-cleary.livejournal.com]

In the primaries, I think that's an excellent strategy. It's when the general election gets mucked up by that sort of voting that bugs me. Voting your conscience is an excellent stance. Voting in a way that you know will actively help those who work directly against your conscience is what got us into trouble in the days of Nader.

[zanzjan.livejournal.com]

What's the saying -- vote with your heart in the primaries, and with your head in the election? Pretty much sums it up.