Political Ramblings

I thought I had decided whom to vote for in the presidential elections. I looked at my ballot yesterday (Oregon uses a mail-in ballot system for all registered voters) and I was stymied. Happily, I have the measures figured out (those tend to be easier than the candidates) and a few other offices. Some positions have helped in either having NO candidates to chose from (damn - I missed my opportunity! I could have been on the ballot! - Really that was my first thought on seeing the words "No Candidate Filed" for the Soil & Water Conservation Director. My next thought was, "What the heck do I know about soil and water conservation?" So I guess it's a good thing I didn't run.) or by only having one candidate as I make it point not to vote for those running unopposed unless I strongly support them. I figure they're winning by default anyway, so what does it matter?

The offices for President and VP have an amazing array of candidates (6) here in Oregon. Ralph Nader is now in the Peace party (did the Green party kick him out?), whatever that is, with Cynthia McKinney for the Pacific Green party, Bob Barr for the Libertarian party and Chuck Baldwin for the Constitution party (who is, by the way, endorsed by Republican Ron Paul - a little know Republican candidate for President but who had more delegate votes than Giuliani). And then, of course, Obama and McCain. It looks so plain and simple on paper, so much less colorful and strident than the conventions and debates but I'm still at a loss.

I don't know, must be the "maverick" in me but whom I want to vote for changes depending on whomever I'm around. At Time Out for Women (a conference for LDS women) the air was palpable with McCain support. I wanted to holler out, "OBAMA!!!"

At home, the yards are full of Obama/Biden signs. One home has the Obama logo painted onto their white picket fence. I want to buy the biggest McCain/Palin sign and post it in my yard. Heck, maybe I should just paint it on the roof.

I guess my problem is at the end of the day, I don't hear much in what either of them say beyond campaign rhetoric. They each try to convince me that they didn't make this mistake but their opponent sure did and how they will each be the one to save the US from our current crises but the other one will only make it worse.

Is it disrespectful to just hang my ballot on a wall and throw a dart? Yes? Damn.

I made a comment to Julie, my SIL, that I was wishing for the good ol' days when elections just seemed to much more cut and dried and simple. The other half of that is that I don't think they had nearly the amount of information available for perusal as we do. Is there such a thing as too much information? (Clearly, not in some of my previous posts.)

Overall, though, I am really tired of all the finger pointing (you know the old adage about where those other four are pointing...). Most of the campaign ads I see are all about how terrible their opponent is and few make any real statements about the candidate himself. I also get tired of verbose speaking that leaves the question essentially unanswered. I started to watch the debates but after half an hour of not answering the questions directly, I got a little bored with it and decided they weren't helping my decision making process at all.

So I'm stuck.

A friend mentioned that she was voting for McCain because she felt strongly against "partial birth abortions" which Obama has supported. I agree with her on that but I would be surprised if McCain actually did anything to make partial birth abortions illegal during his tenure. So should that really be the basis for my vote?

And there's this whole bailout thing - I didn't want it to happen but I concede that it may just have to happen to protect the economy but given that it has to happen, do we really have to pile pork on top of that? Seriously? I mean I love ham but has Congress been dealing so much with billions and trillions of dollars that a few hundred million become just pocket change? And I know Congress is not the President, but I just get so sick of Washington that I'm ready to strap on a few of those arms I have the right to bear and stage a major coup!

Exept I abhor guns and can't stand the thought of killing someone. Minor conflict.

I told you this was ramblings....at least you were forewarned.

That ballot-on-the-wall-dart thing is sounding better and better.