It's Election Day. That makes it almost mandatory to write something about the elections. After all, I used to be a political advisor! So, here's my intelligent, well-thought out advice: Um... wait a minute, I know I've got something. Hang on, hang on...
The truth is that in most of our elections, there are few candidates who are worth your vote. So, lotsa luck with that. Seriously.
Most of America joins me in being "moderate". At one time, we all viewed moderates as the fence sitters. These were the morons who either didn't have moral convictions or weren't bright enough to know the issues. And sure, we've got our village idiots.
But for me, being a moderate is to be an individual. I don't have to goosestep with the rest of the Republican party, I don't have to chant rhetoric with the Democrats. I sift through the kitty litter box to get to the nuggets of crap.
That kitty litter box needs cleaning this year.
The problem is, there are sometimes valuable things which are found in the kitty litter. Oh yes, it's rare to find anything of worth in there, but it happens. Say your cat swallowed your best cocktail ring, and you caught him just as it was going down. So you have to go through that litter box with a fine tooth comb, unpleasant though that may be.
Your political arena is your kitty litter box. If you haven't taken time to sort through the issues and politicians yet, it's time to break open your paper and read their op-ed piece today. Sure, they may give you some bad advice, but they'll give you enough information so that you can get out and vote a little more knowlegably than The Village Idiot.
I believe that many politicians will be cleaned out this year, and that's a good thing. The Republican Party stopped being the party of the people in the early 90s. The Democrats stopped at some point in the early 70s. There's a tiny chance that some of the newcomers may be willing to do the right thing for a little while, even if absolute power corrupts absolutely. We need a fresh start once more.
The problem is, you keep feeding that cat, you've gotta keep cleaning the litter box.
Saur Recommends
Florida Governor: Max Linn (Reform Party)
Florida Attorney General: Bill McCollum (R)
Florida CFO: Alex Sink (D)
Florida Agriculture Commissioner: Eric Copeland (D)
Florida U.S. Senate: Bill Nelson (D)
Florida U.S. House: Gus Bilirakis (R), Bill Young (R)
Florida Amendment 1: YES
Florida Amendment 2 was removed
Florida Amendment 3: NO
Florida Amendment 4: NO
Florida Amendment 5 was removed
Florida Amendment 6: NO
Florida Amendment 7: NO
Florida Amendment 8: YES
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15 comments:
I'm on my way to vote. I have my rubber gloves, rebreather and package of handiwipes for when it is all over. Another election that no matter who wins, I'm unhappy.
Max Linn? Might as well vote for the guy Big Sugar wants in office. I am going with Jim Davis. Time to stick it to the Jebster.
For the Attorney General, I am also going to vote for the other guy who is not Bill McCollum. Both guys are probably not too much different, but once again it is a matter of stick it to em.
Florida has a CFO? I did not know that. But Ill vote for the guy you listed. Why not.
Agriculture Commissioner - Bronson has to go. I am still pissed that him and Jeb illegaly STOLE MY LIME TREE!!!! Now I have to buy limes. I used to just pick em off the tree. I had unlimited limes.
BILL NELSON PLEASE! Harris is a twit. What has she done other than help steal elections? Time to kick her to the curb with the rest of the trash.
Florida House - I do not know who I get to vote for. I think one is that racist Arza dude (who was running unopposed). Ill either skip those questions, write in my name, or vote for the other guy. A message MUST be sent here.
I am impressed that you would endorse a NO vote for 6 and 7 - which would raise the homestead exemption tax for old people and disabled veterans. I think these will carry because people can walk away feeling good. But the reality is you are right. It would place a higher tax burden on non-disabled veterans (and everyone else) and also discriminate against renters, and younger home owners. 6 and 7 should be enacted by legislation, not by constitutional change. I think we are in lock step here with the amendments.
Number 8 worries me however. I do not really know what it means. I know what the words say, but who knows how it will be used in reality. But it seems like it will protect people from having their property taken over, only to be handed to a condo builder. So I am for it.
I will admit that I was not totally prepared for today. I did do some reading and discussion with the hubby over the weekend. We tried to sift through our Georgia litter box but it was a very difficult task. Nasty!
So I did my best, voted what I thought was right and will be able to sleep tonight! Tomorrow I will find out if I need to revisit the litter box!
Jef, the good news is that bad politics can bring out good candidates. Eventually. But not this year, I'm sorry to say.
Debbie, ;o) Good luck! It's never a pretty task.
Lazy Iguana, the Fla CFO is a new position. The current fave (a Repub that's already served office and is "in" with Big Sugar) obviously wants it. I think it's time for some fresh blood.
The reason I want Max Linn (Reform Party) is that although he's a long shot, he has a good sense of humor (go to his website and see). He also is a pragmatist with no party affiliations, who was in charge of the 8 is Enough campaign (which I supported and forces term limits on the lot of them - so we don't end up with American Royalty like the Kennedy nest in Massachusetts).
At one time, I believed you should never vote for a 3rd party candidate, because it was essentially a vote of no confidence for the other two. Now I see it differently; I'd really like to see him win. And otherwise, I dislike the other two candidates equally.
The Florida House race in your area is not one I'm familiar with. Up here our two best candidates in my area are Republicans, and I voted for them.
I agree with you about Bronson and Harris.
The amendments: I voted that way for the very reasons you gave. As usual, we see eye-2-eye on most issues. But... what about 8 alarms you? Did I miss something?
Ed, I'm with ya, guy. I wish we had better alternatives this year. Unfortunately, there seems to have been only one Ronald Reagan.
Don't know much of anything about Florida politics at all, but I will say that I am very hopeful that the Democrats take control of Congress. That will be good news for us up here in Canada, better if the Senate was Democrat, but that is not going to happen right???
Scott
Scott - it depends on which program the electronic voting machones are running. I have very little confidence in them. There is a very good HBO documentary on google video called "hacking democracy". Watch it if you can.
Saur - I simply do not trust eminent domain. I do not like it. I votes yes, but only because it seems like it will place obsticles in the whole process.
Lazy Iguana, I, too, am very unhappy about electronic voting machines. It is, and will always be, easy to hack and alter. Easier than a papertrail. With one click, you can alter votes, but you have to do a lot more to get rid of paper. Eminent domain? Why don't you trust it? What do you see?
Scott, who knows? The electorate is unusually edgy and unpredictable. And right now, we're facing a great deal of rain. Rain favors the Republicans, for some reason. Democrats tend to not want to venture out in the rain to vote. Why? Is it their elderly? Is it their low-income "welfare moms" who may not be motivated enough? No one is sure.
I'm curious. Why no on 3?
I'm sick of items being passed without much thought, and high profile items being passed by the voters in highly populated counties that the rest of the state has to fund.
Obviously, I voted yes.
Yay....let's vote!
You'll be proud of me: I voted early and I voted often.
what! no hanging chads this year? where is the bang for your entertainment dollar?
i voted. And i certainly hope we get some change as a result of the elections. We need some new faces up there. ;)
Eminent Domain allows private property to be confiscated for fun and profit. Here is Miami it has been used to claim land on which poor people live, in order to build condos that the displaced people can never afford. This is just plain wrong. Just because you are poor does not mean you should be homeless.
I am waiting for the day when rich people have to get on their roof and snake their pipes because their toilets are clogged - and all the plumbers are gone because they can not afford to live within 100 miles of where rich people live.
Amendment 8 was up for vote for ONE REASON. Rich people are on the target of the condo builders. Once you are talking about a million dollar plus home being confiscated to build a 50 story condo building full of million dollar units, something was done.
At least Amendment 8 prevents property from being stolen to profit some developer. In theory anyway.
Moderate became a bad word when the Bush partizanship came into effect but polarised politics is never any good, black and white doesn't exist but shades of grey aren't as exciting to vote for.
Keep voting, keep buying into the process, it belongs to you!
Florida Governor: Max Linn (Reform Party) DISAGREE
Florida Attorney General: Bill McCollum (R)AGREE
Florida CFO: Alex Sink (D)UNDECIDED
Florida Agriculture Commissioner: Eric Copeland (D)UNDECIDED
Florida U.S. Senate: Bill Nelson (D)AGREE
Florida U.S. House: Gus Bilirakis (R), Bill Young (R)AGREE
Florida Amendment 1: YES AGREE
Florida Amendment 2 was removed
Florida Amendment 3: NO AGREE
Florida Amendment 4: NO DISAGREE
Florida Amendment 5 was removed
Florida Amendment 6: NO AGREE
Florida Amendment 7: NO AGREE
Florida Amendment 8: YES AGREE
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