I live in Washington State. Our vote-by-mail primary is on February 19th, and the ballots were mailed out by the Secretary of State’s office a couple of days ago. I’ll probably get mine on Monday.
The ballots were printed before Edwards suspended his campaign, so I know his name will still be on it. And I’m going to vote for him.
There is, of course, tremendous pressure out there in the liberal blogosphere to switch my vote to Obama (and, of course, pressure to switch it to Hillary, but I’m ignoring that part of it.)
But goddamn it, I’m pissed off about this.
I’m pissed off at Edwards for suspending the campaign before 80% of the states had their say. Not pissed off enough not to vote for him anyway, but pissed off.
Why?
Because this means that, like every goddamn election I’ve ever voted in, I’m being forced to choose the lesser of what I see as two evils. And I’m sick of it.
I am not convinced that Obama is a true progressive. I am not convinced that Obama has the chops for what is going to be the hardest Presidency in recent memory — hardest, that is, if the job’s going to be done right. The only thing I can say with any degree of certainty about Obama is that I’d rather vote for him than vote for Hillary — not because I believe he is the better candidate, but because I believe she is a worse one.
Neither of them are speaking to my issues. Neither of them give me much (if any) hope for the future of our democracy and our Constitution.
So, my vote will be, as it almost always ends up being, a protest vote. Because I don’t like my choices anymore.
And I am pissed.
3 comments
and i’m not convinced either…
vote your conscience! then, no matter what anyone says… your vote is never wasted a vote.
and great to see you here and with an essay!!!! hellooooooo Mehitabel9.
I felt the same way and did the same thing in 04. I voted for Howard Dean when it came time for my primary even though he had already dropped out. I was plenty pissed off too, after what the Media had done, after the infamous Scream in Iowa.
So, yes, be pissed, vote the way you want to and ignore those who try to tell you otherwise or guilt trip you for not voting the way they want to.
I didn’t get to vote for either of my first two choices this time, first Dodd and then Edwards. I have already sent in my early ballot for Super Tuesday where I voted for Obama.
I have been wary too, but after listening to him speak in St. Louis last night on C-Span and then watching this video of Michelle Obama in Delaware I am growing more comfortable with my vote. I highly recommend that video, by the way, regardless of how one feels about Barack. It is an amazing political speech that speaks to many issues important to progressives, particularly the last half.
Glad to see you found this site. It’s a good one.
I’m registered in CA.