With us or Against us, the apparent two sides that I can’t choose from.
I got my Washington State Primary ballot in the mail yesterday after I got back from classes. So, after I put all my shit down and had a cup of tea, I went through my mail, ballot first. This isn’t the first time the State of Washington has sent my one of these things, a while ago I got a ballot for Clark County Elections and that went okay. All the set pieces were the same, but the only thing new was a green envelope that was on the bottom of the letter. I’ll get to that latter.
Washington’s primaries are held on Feb. 19, putting it with the other laggers that don’t jump in with the rest of the crowd on Super Tuesday. Oregon’s come later, but whatever. The first thing I noticed was that every single candidate who’d ever even considered nomination apparently was on the ticket. I wasn’t surprised to still see Guiliani and Edwards, but even Richardson was still on there.
So, while I’m considering whether I’ll vote for Obama or Paul (Basically, between the Democratic and Republican parties), I notice the back part. It said that I must pledge that I will only vote for the party whose candidate I choose is ascribed. In essence, pledge myself to be a loyal Democrat or Republican. This is bullshit. I’m not voting for the party, I’m voting for the person, regardless of their political affiliations. So, explain to me why I have to pledge myself to a political party?
I’m not really concerned about not being able to vote Republican, Libertarian, Green Party, etc. What I’m worried about is that somewhere in Washington’s voters records that my name will be included in a list of Democrats or vice versa. But, while this is rather alienating, I get the reasoning behind it. It’s not the state that’s having the election, it’s the parties. So, since I doubt I’m going to reconcile this, I don’t think I’m going to vote in our primaries. I think this is rather moot anyway, as Washington State only has 9 electoral votes .
This sort of brings me to my next point as well. I can’t decide that if I do decide to vote in these pre-elections, who am I going to go for, Obama or Paul? At this point, Barrack Obama needs all the votes he can get in order to defeat Hillary Clinton. But on the other hand, Ron Paul needs more voting supporters.
But I have time. Super Tuesday is today, and I think that most of the decisions will be made today. Once this day is over, I might have a clearer vision of who to vote for, if I vote at all.
