I recently ran across an old Hills Brothers can in my garage with the corporate-logo-guy wearing a turban. I'd forgotten about the walking turban guy, even though I remember him well from my childhood because my parents were loyal Hills Bros. drinkers. I buy whatever's on sale, and that, many times, is Hills Brothers, sans turban guy. Any idea when he left the building? I've speculated to my wife that it was around 9/11, but can't say for sure because that that time, Folgers was usually on sale.
Also Tania @ 46 brings up something juicy with the Star Trek update. Though glad to see a return of the franchise, I was hoping they'd bring back my buddy Picard and the Next Generation crew.
Jim, I have to respectfully disagree. You say:
"any vote for any Republican would have been wrong, and any vote other than Democrat in a race where there were both Republicans and Democrats would be wrong."
Not sure where you're located, but in my state, a vote for the Democrat governor was a vote for a regime of corruption, while the Republican was a moderate who actually pissed off her party by siding for reproductive rights, among other matters.
A vote for our current Democratic governor, who won, will harm the Democratic party as a whole when this guy is eventually indicted.
When you paint with such a broad stroke, you cannot help but obscure the details, of which this is one: My vote for the Green candidate was at least not a vote for the Republican, but part of me wondered if I should even vote for the Republican, who had a better chance to win than my Green candidate, just to help the Democratic candidate off the hook.
My local daily came out in support for my third party vote in its lead editorial:
http://www.dailysouthtown.com/news/opinion/editorials/130115,1EDT1-09.article
Some highlights (which align your view, Greg and Scraps, with that of local Republicans):
"THE ISSUE: Some politicians and pundits derided as a "waste" the notion of voting for Green Party candidates in Tuesday's election.
WE SAY: By winning more than 10 percent of the gubernatorial vote, the Green Party has won a role in the state's political process that could bring new and worthwhile ideas into future elections. ... Republicans and their supporters staged a last-minute campaign to dismiss votes for Whitney as "wasted." But those votes were in our view among the most productive cast this year. By garnering more than 5 percent of the vote, the Green Party qualified as an "established party" under Illinois law. That means the Greens get out from under the onerous "new party" regulations that make it extremely difficult for candidates outside the Democratic and Republican parties to seek office in Illinois. ...
Most of these Green candidates will be also-rans, of course, but some of them may be good candidates with a chance to win. Some will raise important issues and advance ideas that wouldn't get heard otherwise.
For example, Whitney this year called for education funding reform that would have reduced property taxes by raising the state income tax, the formula that independent commissions -- and this newspaper -- have called for for more than a decade. Blagojevich and Topinka wouldn't touch the idea and instead advanced proposals such as "selling the lottery" or putting a casino in downtown Chicago as their proposals to fix the school funding system.
Whitney also called for bans on corporate campaign contributions and on donations to political campaigns by state contractors -- two proposals that Blagojevich and Topinka would have nothing to do with. He also wanted to create independent hiring agencies to fill state jobs in order to take politics and favoritism out of the process. You won't hear Republicans or Democrats proposing that idea either.
We say those Green Party voters did themselves and the state a favor by creating a means for constructive new ideas to be raised in Illinois elections. So, no, they didn't waste their votes. The voted in their own best interests, and we applaud them for it."
So there.
Thing is, Greg, I did vote - In every race I could. I even went through the whole judge retention list.
Also, I talked about voting with my three-year-old son. I mentioned voting to my son's teacher when I dropped him off at school. I proudly wore my "I voted!" sticker all day long.
Your blather aside, my vote for governor, had it been included in the 60 percent the winning Democrat got, would have been completely indistinguishable from not voting. Wouldn't have made a bit of difference. Now my actual vote for the Green party governor candidate, may have made a difference. Perhaps that one vote pushed him up from 10 percent to 11 percent.
I can actually see that vote on TV.
And in my head, I feel better having cast that vote. Much better than I did voting for the Democrat, Stroger, who won for Cook County Board President.
In neither case did my vote affect who won, but one vote made me proud to tell my son I voted, and another did not.
In Illinois, the Republicans were more worried about the Green Party candidate than the Democrats, who ignored him. The Republicans spent some time to dig up dirt on the guy's past as a socialist and repeatedly blasted him.
Nonetheless, Dems coasted to victory in that race, and the Green guy has a respectable 10 percent.
Today, my vote for a Green in the Illinois Governor's race made more of a difference than my vote would have for the Democrat incumbent, who right now has about 60 percent. The Green candidate is at about 10 percent. By garnering that many votes, the Green party will not have to collect nearly five times the amount of nomination signitures necessary for a third party to get on the ballot next time.
That margin also signals to other voters that there is an alternative to the established parties.
And I wouldn't have cast my ballot if I didn't think there was a very outside longshot chance that this third party guy could win, even if all polls predicted against it. There is a precident, though I hesitate to link my guy with The Body.
Nevertheless, to give up my vote to a candidate I didn't belive in at the expense of one whose policies and politics I agree with would have been giving up hope. And if I ever give up on hope, Scraps, perhaps you would be right. I may give up voting altogether.
And I introduced "undereducated" into this mix, by the way. That was a bit too harsh on my part and I apologize.
But hey, I can still celebrate most of the Democratic victories with you, can't I?
As I said, my state is blue. It's 7:09 as I post this, and the polls closed at 7 p.m. The Associated Press has declared the Democrat incumbent the winner here in the Illinois governor's race. I'm still proud of my vote for Rich Whitney of the Green Party, and as Gov. Rod continues to eff up his office, I'll be able, and happy to tell everybody I know that I voted for Whitney.
Scraps,
You appear to be a Gene Wolfe fan (judging by the link associated with your name), so you're not a total idiot. But your post in response to mine sure makes you appear, umm, undereducated. For example, you say: "At least you understand that your vote is all about making yourself feel good, and not at all about making whatever possible positive effect is available to be made."
That's not my understanding at all. I voted third party because to me, there is no possible positive effect available with the two mainstream candidates.
Prior to that, you say, "Maybe soon we will all be through with voting altogether, but at least some of you will know that by god you didn't compromise."
I'm not even sure what you're trying to say there, but it didn't make much sense. As I said I'm proud of my vote. If I didn't vote, I wouldn't be proud.
Greg:
Those who vote for the lesser of two evils must live with the knowledge that when "their" candidate commits his or her lesser evils, they supported that. I refuse to vote for candidates I don't like. People tell me all the time that I throw my votes away when I vote third party, but I tell them that it makes me feel good to vote for candidates I like. If both major parties supported torture, would you vote for them?
Greg sputtered several things about the counterproductivity and uselessness of voting third party.
This is a blanket statement that I wholeheartedly disagree with. In my (blue) state, the Democrat incumbent governor has had a pitiful first term. He's a product of a political machine, and it shows in his leadership. His Republican challenger seems to be a moderate, but takes right-sided stands on too many issues.
Neither candidate deserved my vote.
The Green Party candidate said many things that I agreed with, and put forth a plan for education funding, for example, which is better than any implemented or proposed by the two mainstream candidates.
No matter which way this election goes, I'm proud of my third party vote. I didn't do it to send a message, I did it because I'm through voting for the lesser of two evils.
It's interesting to note that here in Illinois, the Republicans are more afraid of the Green candidate for Governor than the Democrats. After blaming Nader for Gore's loss in 2000, I figured the Dems would be out to get the Green candidate, but in line with the general evil ways of Republicans, the party of Bush is the one that dug up the "dirt" that Green candidate Rich Whitney (who is, btw, a science fiction fan) was once a socialist. Democrats have generally ignored him. Of course, the current Democrat ignores just about everything.
I agree somewhat with Lee up in #32, as I also live in the Chicago area, which tends to skew one's angellic perception of Democrats. Still I'll vote for the younger Stroger, mostly because a last-minute mailing from Dick Durbin and Barrak Obama changed my mind. But in a hotly contested governor's race, I'll be voting Green, because the Democrat incumbent is a do-little dweeb. Go Rich Whitney in Illinois!
I once interviewed a librarian named Anita Drilling. She was the inspiration for the start of a newsroom list of odd names that also included local sanitary district candidate Charles "Drainage" Smith and a fellow simply named Carp.
| Year | Number of comments posted |
|---|---|
| 2007 | 2 |
| 2006 | 12 |
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