[us_politics] We Did The Deed

Voted. Our ballots are down at the county elections office, dropped off into the hands of a friendly volunteer who stood out in the rain on SE 11th Ave between Morrison and Belmont. Only way to do it this time.

Stars, am I suspicious. This is the kind of country we've become; I completely believe that there is a hit-squad of thugs out there who'd love to tear open my envelope and, once they see it has a vote for Kerry/Edwards on it, make it go away. And why shouldn't I? When you have squads of Republicans ready to challenge voters in Ohio just because they might vote blue rather than red, you know that they playing field is about as fair and balanced as Fox News's coverage or Lars Larson's viewpoint on nearly anything.

Like I said, we voted blue. We also voted Democratic for the state offices (Bradbury, Myers, Edwards). I feel that the challengers have a case to make against voting for the incumbents. To me, hell, that's at least half the definition of challenger right there. The best thing the state Republicans can come up with is a ghost-story negative commerical saying how they were clubby with Goldschmidt. WoooooOOOOOOooooOOOO, scaAAAAAaaaaAAAAry.

Mere coincidence that Election Day is so close to Hallowe'en? I think not.

Voted for Potter. Francesconi impressed me negatively from the first. From his slickly-polished "you know you're going to vote for me" first run, from his reinvented, studied "man of the people" second go. I look at it this way; if your first run didn't work, and you reinvent yourself to be more palatable, then you care more about marketing yourself than actually serving and, as far as I'm concerned, you've gone from public servant to cynical resume-filler. Maybe Jim has good ideas. I'm not convinced he cares more about his ideas than he does being Mayor.

It's more than an anti-Francesconi vote though. I was impressed by Potter's campaign donation limits. I was baffled by his stealth campaign but have come to accept it as his ace-in-the-hole, although I don't quite know how it works out, it greatly impresses me. He has a lot of support and it's despite the fact that he hasn't run a campaign of any profile. And Howard Dean likes him. I liked him when he was Police chief (that bit over the jaywalkers not withstanding).

I voted for Sam Adams. I'm of the camp that it would be nice if there were two open Council seats, that I could vote both for Fish and Adams. I liked Sam when he was Vera's chief of staff, I appreciate inside experience and I think that's what we need right now. Nick, run next time a seat opens up. I'll vote for ya, buddy. Promise.

Selected comments about the other stuff:

Voted against the "Marriage" amendment. We have bigger problems. It will hurt people whether or not they are gay. I'm also against encoding the Bible as civil law. Some think no doubt it would be nice to take some terrible, swift sword and make everybody Christians who agree on everything, but that's not ever going to happen. Hell, there are disputes even amongst Christians over which version of dogma or doctrine is worthy (and if you think all Christians are one big loving fellowship, just ask a fundamentalist what's to become of Catholics. Naturlich, I disagree). Civil law should be secular. Period. If you want to see what a good Church background does to a government, look no further than Iran.

Voted against disembowling SAIF. Let's call it what it is: it's Liberty Northwest going to take out a rival. They can't compete, so they go this route. I'm not going to help Liberty Northwest play dirty. Also, I'm not convinced that the sweet light of competition and lower workers comp rates will be shed on the Original Beaver State. I think they're just saying that to get me to vote for it. Also, I'm told, because of the way workers comp is done in Oregon we already have some of the lowest rates around. Low worker's comp rates is...good for business.

My State rep-Jeff Merkley. Democrat, rising star, generally credited as lively, intelligent, and quick.

My County commish-Lisa Naito. She was a fool, but McCarty is an imbicile.

Yes on Wyden and Blumenauer. This is a no-brainer.

Two people I would vote for if I was in thier districts:

David Wu in the 1st District. Has Goli Ameri had anything elsel to say about him besides harping on the indiscretion of 28 years ago? She stands for two things: defeating Wu and being a good little Republican. At least Wu cares for his district. Goli is this close to being a red-hack.

And will someone tell Ron Sunseri to take his ball and go home already?

That's it. That's all. Tomorrow evening it's Election Night Pizza. Should be exciting.