Opting Out
Yesterday was the deadline for registering to vote in the Democratic primary in Pennsylvania. (Yep, that's right: Pennsylvania still hasn't had its Democratic primary. That won't happen until April 27, which is about two months after John Kerry was annointed the de facto Democratic nominee.) I let the deadline pass without re-registering as a Democrat. As much as I wanted to vote my conscience, I chose to preserve my Non-Partisan status and save my vote for the November election. The question now is, how will I vote?
The answer seems obvious to me, yet when I took the Vote by Issue Quiz (which I mentioned back in early February, but took in January, before Dick Gephardt dropped out of the race), I didn't match John Kerry on a single issue. He might have been my second choice on some of them, but I didn't research that as thoroughly as I'd intended to.
I'm not crazy about Kerry, but do I want Bush? Hell, no. Against my will I am becoming one of those "anybody but Bush" people. I just wish our "anybody" was somebody else. The good news is that if Kerry wins, I can see in some of the former candidates the makings of a very interesting Cabinet...
Speaking of "opting-out," I finally got around to installing MT-Blacklist, which should make it safe to turn commenting back on until MT 3.0 comes out. Not that I get a lot of legitimate comments anyway, but I'd like the option of starting a discussion without being interrupted by penises and phentermine, Lolitas and Las Vegas real estate. Good riddance, hrie@yahoo.com!
Comments (3)
hiya lori !
have been reading your blogs and enjoyed them a great deal. you seem to keep a busy schedule! somehow ended up on your page through some inter-links...
4 years ago, i already said: one bush's been enough, thank you. ... but then again, i'd only had the privilege of living in your country during one year as an exchange student...
thanks for sharing your thoughts with me. makes me feel a little closer to the u.s., as i haven't been travelling as much in the recent past as i used to...
take care!
hope to read from you again,
fara
Posted by fara | March 30, 2004 4:46 PM
Posted on March 30, 2004 16:46
Hey Lori,
This is Simon. At the beginning of the new year I decided to go back to using my first name but I forgot to change it on my last comment.
Anyway, in these dire times, 'anybody but Bush' is a valid fall back position. I wouldn't feel to bad. Maybe I'm a Pollyanna, but I'd like to think that when Bush is out of the whitehouse and Kerry is in, it will have happened as a result of the sleeping liberal giant waking, and that that giant will hold Kerry's feet to the fire.
How I long for the days when democrats were liberal and republicans kept the government out of peoples private business.
Posted by Stephen | April 2, 2004 3:59 PM
Posted on April 2, 2004 15:59
I'm with you on longing for the days. My husband and I were just wishing the other night that a third party would spring up that was more fiscally conservative than the Democrats (and the borrow and spend Republicans, for that matter--we want a party that knows how to add and subtract) and more socially liberal than the Republicans.
I'd like to see government do the things that the private sector won't or can't (like regulate polluters, preserve public spaces, manage the military and foreign policy, etc.), but otherwise be rather hands-off.
The more I think about where I stand politically, the more disappointed I am with this year's choices. I was hopeful during the primaries....
Posted by Lori | April 7, 2004 2:56 PM
Posted on April 7, 2004 14:56