Election

I just got done looking through our Voters' Pamphlet (volumes 1 & 2, roughly a hundred pages each), filling out and mailing in my ballot.

Offices

I voted for Democrats wherever they were so identified. I will get into the why of that in a bit. There were nineteen offices listed on the ballot. Seven were "partisan" Federal or State offices. Ten of the offices had only one candidate listed. Either we have a very agreeable bunch of people in this area, or the political machinery is very weak.

State Measures

There are an even dozen state measures on the ballot. I voted for the two that were recommended by the legislature that are intended to clarify some legal mumbo-jumbo, and are not supposed to cost any money. Those are measures 54 & 55.

All the other measures were going to require quantities of money for nebulous gains. Five were supported by Bill Sizemore, our perenniel gadfly/tax activist/racketeer. I voted against all of them.

Local Measures

There were six local measures, most are for bonds to fund some fancy new project. They sound like pretty good ideas: roads, parks, libraries, zoos, that sort of thing. The only one I had any doubts about was the one for the zoo, but then I am categorically opposed to zoos. On the other hand my replacement for zoos would cost a whole heck of lot more than I can imagine anyone wanting to spend, so we compromise and we let the existing zoo continue to struggle.

Bond Measures Spreadsheet

Pros & Cons

The Voters' Pamphlet contains statements from partisans about the relative merits of the various issues, either pro or con. There are a great number of them. I read a couple, but mostly I looked to see who contributed the statement. There are statements from individuals, unions, teachers, police, firefighters, etc. The League of Women Voters also contributed some statements. My mom was a member, and the few times I have looked into what they were supporting I found that I agreed with their position. So I take their position on an issue as a pretty good indicator. They disagreed with Sizemore on all four of the issues where they took both had a position.

Why Democrats?

Because I am angry at the Republicans. Um, let's not say angry, that sounds like strong emotions are involved. Let's say I am annoyed. I believe in many of the ideals of the Republican Party, but I have not seen much evidence of them lately. What I have seen is the lashing of the electorate on whatever hot button issues they can come up with in order to get themselves elected, and then using their power when elected to loot the country. Scumbags, the lot of them.

There may be some respectable Republicans in office, but the theatrics of the rotten apples has been absolutely disgusting, and if the honest members of the party cannot control these shenanigans, then they are going to be tarred with the same brush.

Still, if Obama gets elected I will be surprised. A black man getting elected in America. What a concept. I think America is still a pretty racist country. It might not be so blatant as it used to be, as regards business or official matters I think most people are willing to deal fairly with people, regardless of their race. But when it comes to personal matters, I suspect there is still a fairly strong undercurrent of racism. So if Obama gets elected I will take that as indicator of how angry people are at the President Bush and the Republican Party.

Update December 2016 replaced missing images.