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apologies to non-US residents on my f-list
Nov. 3rd, 2008 07:14 amI've been fairly quiet about the election, I know. I just. I've got relatively little hope that things will change in large ways, to be honest. Barack Obama's health care plan still leaves millions of people uninsured; he's not talking about completely withdrawing troops from Iraq or canceling Blackwater's contract; he supports a "surge" in Afghanistan (Why don't you talk to Mikhail Gorbachev about how well that worked, hmm?); he is as beholden to corporate donors as McCain, he just has enough small-dollar individual donors that this fact is often ignored; his economic and foreign policy advisors are people who were firmly entrenched in previous administrations, all the way back to the Carter one.
But he is less likely to tax the middle class and working poor into destitution. And he's not a proponent of the trickle-down theory of economics that McCain (and Republicans all the way back to the 1890s) espouse(s).
So. Yeah. Not greatly optimistic.
But I'm inspired by a couple of things.
First, by how many people are participating in this election. Early voting surpassed previous records, and it is my understanding that hundreds of thousands of new voters registered to do so.
At nearly every play, concert, or festival I've seen in the last few months, there have been voter registration booths, and performers have urged their audiences to vote.
Some said they didn't care which candidate their fans endorsed as long as they acted.
Others (*cough* Eddie Vedder *cough*) were more pointed and specific.
This morning I woke to an email from NIN on the subject.
I cannot imagine having received that much urging four years ago.
Second? There are people who have never voted before, because they thought their vote didn't matter, voting in this election.
Lines might be long tomorrow. There were significant waits for the early voting here in Texas. But if you are in line before the polls close, you cannot be turned away. It is the law. So even if you have to work tomorrow, please go to your polling place afterwards and vote.
If you're in TX, you have to be registered. If you don't know what polling places are open in your district, go here. For the rest of the country, Google is helpful enough to be providing this.
But he is less likely to tax the middle class and working poor into destitution. And he's not a proponent of the trickle-down theory of economics that McCain (and Republicans all the way back to the 1890s) espouse(s).
So. Yeah. Not greatly optimistic.
But I'm inspired by a couple of things.
First, by how many people are participating in this election. Early voting surpassed previous records, and it is my understanding that hundreds of thousands of new voters registered to do so.
At nearly every play, concert, or festival I've seen in the last few months, there have been voter registration booths, and performers have urged their audiences to vote.
Some said they didn't care which candidate their fans endorsed as long as they acted.
Others (*cough* Eddie Vedder *cough*) were more pointed and specific.
This morning I woke to an email from NIN on the subject.
I cannot imagine having received that much urging four years ago.
Second? There are people who have never voted before, because they thought their vote didn't matter, voting in this election.
Lines might be long tomorrow. There were significant waits for the early voting here in Texas. But if you are in line before the polls close, you cannot be turned away. It is the law. So even if you have to work tomorrow, please go to your polling place afterwards and vote.
If you're in TX, you have to be registered. If you don't know what polling places are open in your district, go here. For the rest of the country, Google is helpful enough to be providing this.
