Election 2008

Thanks to Oregon’s vote-by-mail system, I’ve exercised my civic duty and voted in November’s election already. After a long and grueling presidential season which seems like it was the longest ever, it all comes down to the citizens of the United States casting their ballots and making their choices. Hopefully, everyone who can will vote. Even more, hopefully the vote counting will be accurate and fair.

If you know me or have been following my blog for a while, it’ll probably come as no surprise that I voted for Barak Obama. Yes, “that one”. Mine is a vote for hope. A vote for change. A vote for a new generation of political leadership. I am not so naive to think that Mr. Obama will magically be able to cure all that ails this country. I will no doubt disagree with him on many of his decisions. But, given that we are well into a period of time where so many things are reaching tipping points and our current way of life is in the process of vanishing into thin air to be replaced by a new way of life, I think that Mr. Obama is the best choice for leading us forward.

I respect Senator McCain’s service to this country, despite the ugly tone of his campaign of late. I believe that he would do a much better job in the office of the President than the current holder of the job. But, I also believe that he and, perhaps more importantly, the people he has surrounded himself with are part of an old guard, no matter how many times they pull out the word “Maverick”. I think that the positions that he has taken in this campaign are short-sighted and based in outdated ideology. It’s the twenty-first century. I think we need a president and administration that is part of where we are going, not part of where we’ve been.

Of course, and it should go without saying, this is all my opinion. I don’t expect every reader to agree with it. All I can ask for is that you seriously consider your reasons for your own decision and make the one that is right for you. After all, that’s what elections are for.

The presidential choice, however, isn’t the only one on the ballot. In fact, the choice for POTUS is probably the easy one for most people. Either you vote for that one or the other one. There are a whole host of other races that deserve attention. For me, sorting out how I wanted to vote in all the other contests, U.S. Congress, the Oregon legislature, the Oregon Secretary of State, lots of other offices, and both state and local measures, took me the better part of an afternoon. Thank goodness I had the Internet at hand to help research all of the choices. In the end, like in every election I’ve voted in, I didn’t vote a straight party ticket. My independent status has been confirmed again.

No matter what your choices are this election season—and I mean all of your choices, not just for the President, but for representatives and measures—please get out there and vote. Thanks.

Political posts tend to attract asshat comments. Please don’t leave them here. If you disagree, great. But please be civil and nice.