Oh, Thank The Gods!
I may not be a huge fan of Barak Obama, but I was outright afraid of the direction things would take should John McCain end up (with the crazy lady) in the oval office. And the race? Not nearly so close as I'd thought. I'm not dissatisfied with the outcome; I am not sure how it will all turn out. But that is something none of us know.
The voting room in the Rockaway Meadow School was crowded in comparison to past elections but not so much so that there was any wait. We both signed up and went right in. Luis had no trouble reading and understanding the two separate questions and was in and out in moments... I had to weed through the interminable amount of verbiage to understand the questions, which to me was next to impossible without interpretation, and then, while I had immediately made all of my other choices for freeloader and up, the presidential one was unanswered. As much as I hate the thought of McCain and the Crazy Lady being in office, does that mean that Barak Obama should? Maybe Ralph Nader would be the wiser choice.
There is no easy or right answer. But in the end, common sense won out. Voting for Ralph Nader wouldn't accomplish anything. The other 7 choices (hard to believe that there were SEVEN other options aside from Republican, Democratic and whatever party Ralph Nader calls himself) were completely unknown to me. I hadn't a clue who any of them were. My feeling was that for me to truly make a difference, I had to cast my lot in with McCain or Obama, no one else. So I cast it for Obama, the lesser of two evils.
The honest fact is that if you are not Democratic or Republican, yours is a voice that will never be heard. That is a sad statement.
I guess we shall find out how big the horns on this devil are!
Jonathan Coulton, your time is here to revise the end of the "Presidents" song, so we have something about Obama. Then again, other than commenting on his campaign or the difference in pigmentation (which is minimal, admittedly, and almost makes him caucasoid), what is there to say, just yet?
Guess you should hold off on that for now!
Comments
Having had the time to watch/listen/compare over many months when I went to vote yesterday morning at
6 am I was nervous and excited at the same time. In the actual booth, I held on to the little red, white, and blue Obama button I've been wearing lately and with tears said as I checked his name that I was soooo very proud to vote for him.
It's not that I really believe that one party can fix all the woes of the country or that he isn't without flaws or trouble coming with some issues, but it's the hope and the happiness that I saw yesterday in many people that we've needed for a long time.
As far as politicians go, I understand what you mean being the lesser of two evils because both parties have certainly done some terrible shit, but I really don't feel that he has a bad agenda. It seems he honestly feels he can help this country. I don't see or hear some of the usual ego you get with alot of Washington. Of course time will tell, and whether all the many people who worked to get him elected will continue to be involved as he or any President obviously can't do it all alone.
I really do think that those who are not Dem or Repub can have a voice that's heard. It starts locally. I've always been and voted Dem but even they get a bit much sometimes so locally I've started voting for Independants. If there are enough of them to rise up at some point things will start to change there too. This election should show you that. Against many difficult odds, good things can happen and people can get involved to make changes.