Michael Tue Nov 5 18:00:24 2002
How to confuse democracy
Eschewing a straight-ticket Green vote (yes, the Indiana ballot now HAS a straight-ticket Green option. On the one hand, the recognition of the Green and Libertarian parties as worthy of straight-ticket ballots is a Good Thing. On the other -- voting straight-ticket in the first place is a far less thoughtful thing than you'd expect of minority-party voters...)
ANYway, eschewing a straight-ticket Green vote, I voted Green/Libertarian/mostly Democrat. Yeah, yeah, I know the Green candidate for the (now vacant) House seat in my district stands something less than a snowball's chance of actually winning the election, but still -- it has to send some kind of message. Or something.
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Emsworth Tue Nov 5 20:01:53 2002
Re: How to confuse democracy
Speaking of Libertarians, in San Francisco, one could vote for this feller, who apparently is a professional exotic dancer: http://starchildforsupervisor.org
I voted Green for governor, over the Libertarian candidate, since I don't like or trust either the incumbent and his Democratic opponent.
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mouse Thu Nov 7 14:37:32 2002
Re: How to confuse democracy
ah, the bay area, fountainhead of fringe politics - they _do_ come up with original ideas ......although i hear the oakland shade-grown coffee initiative failed.
i voted green for a number of the state offices (stuck with dem. for governor, because the republican was just too scary to risk). i started picking them because a lot of the democratic and republican candidates didn't even submit a statement for the voter info pamphlet. i mean, party loyalty is fine, but you have to give us at least some rudimentary info on your position.
so now i am trying to find a bright side. so far all i have come up with is: if bush figures he's close to getting iraqi oil, maybe he'll finally leave ANWR and the arches and places like that alone....
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Chris Fri Nov 8 00:56:37 2002
Re: How to confuse democracy
> i voted green for a number of the state offices (stuck with dem. for
> governor, because the republican was just too scary to risk). i started
> picking them because a lot of the democratic and republican candidates
> didn't even submit a statement for the voter info pamphlet. i mean, party
> loyalty is fine, but you have to give us at least some rudimentary info on
> your position.
The U.S. Senate and House races here get weird. The Republican incumbents have been there a LONG time and always win by incredible landslides, and so the Democrats and others odon't even bother running SANE candidates anymore, to say nothing of electable ones.
Examples: In the voter info pamphlet, the Democrat running for Senate calls all incumbent politicians (and federal judges) corrupt fascists and refers twice to the "punitive use of the mental health system against political prisoners". Under "Political and Government Positions" he lists: "Political Prisoner of the United States, 1986 to present." Under Other, he clarifies: "Illegally purged from USAF in 1986 by fascist criminals within the United States government."
Meanwhile, the Democrat running for House doesn't say a damn thing about himself (apart from the fact that he won't take soft money) or his position or even any of the usual campaign promises, but spends two paragraphs ranting about GM food, the "militarization of space", the lack of national health care insurance, etc.
As a closing note, I find it very very funny that the Green candidate for House was named "DeForest". I mean, talk about your all-time inappropriate names...
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mouse Fri Nov 8 15:16:07 2002
Re: How to confuse democracy
well, at least the house candidate had _some_ opinion on issues....
i've forgotten - are you in alaska? it's one thing for the dems. to be demoralized - but better to field no candidates than certifiable ones, i would think....
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Chris Fri Nov 8 16:11:56 2002
Re: How to confuse democracy
> i've forgotten - are you in alaska? it's one thing for the dems. to be
> demoralized - but better to field no candidates than certifiable ones, i
> would think....
Yeah. Maybe in 2008 they'll run someone who can get comfortably into double digits this time. (Mr. Political Prisoner Vondersaar got ten percent of the vote, but only barely. And I'm honestly surprised he did that well -- those 10% must not have read the pamphlet.)
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