Tag: elections

politics

Election Day is Next Tues and No One Cares

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Election Day is next Tuesday, November 8th. In my home state, the great state of NJ, voters will decide who represents them in the Legislature. All 120 seats are up for grabs, however as Alfred Doblin in the Bergen Record so aptly put, “Well, not really.”
He continues to by stating,

“At best two, maybe three legislative districts are considered competitive. That means either most incumbents will be reelected or the party faithful who were socially promoted up the food chain in a safe district will become legislators”

and the sad part is, he is absolutely correct. Regarding the men and women who make our laws and govern us, we are given very little choice in this country, a country that prides itself on giving its citizens 31 flavors of ice cream. I mean, there are 8 different varieties of Wheat Thins for god’s sake! An organization called Americans Elect is trying to alter this dynamic for the 2012 Presidential Election, but that is a topic for another post. Let’s instead go back to the two (potentially good, probably bad) choices that we do have.
We’ve spent $120 billion (that’s billion with a ‘b’) fighting to give people in Afghanistan the right to vote – we are trying to bring democracy to them and that is what you do in a democracy, you elect your leaders – but only 1/4 of our population actually votes, and that is in a good year. If you divide that number equally between the two parties that dominate politics (Democrats and Republicans) then you see how its possible that someone who only 1/8 of the population wants to be elected winds up in charge of your life. It’s possible that people do not vote because they think they are just deciding between a giant douchebag and a turd sandwich. It’s possible that they do not have time and/or it is not convenient. These are topics for another post as well. Again, let’s instead go back to the two (potentially good, probably bad).
I vote, year in and year out, and I usually vote for a Democrat because the Democratic Party’s platform is the one that is the most aligned with my worldview. I’ve never missed an election since I turned 18 and never plan to either. I care, and believe that the only wasted vote is the vote you do not make. I’ve complained about this issue before on this blog and five years later, nothing has changed.
Doblin concludes his op-ed with the following:

State legislatures are the test kitchens for new public policy, some of it down-right anti-American — that is, if you believe civil liberties aren’t decided by the popular vote. Some of the people elected this November to go to Trenton will be the people going to Washington in future years. If they are inarticulate, if they lack creativity, and most important, are incapable of looking at both the needs of their district and the needs of the state now, they will not change in two, four or six years.
New Jersey needs its best leaders in Washington and it needs to mold them in Trenton. If mediocrity is the gold standard, democracy is what is devalued. State elections should matter. They don’t.
And you wonder how these things begin.

To that I say, “hear hear!” Unfortunately, most of the population will not…

politics

The Only Way to Combat the Inevitable is to Make it Irrelevant

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I was out to dinner with two political friends of mine this past Saturday night and I wound up codifying a belief that I’ve had since the Supreme Court ruled in favor of corporate money flowing relatively unchecked into political campaigns: money will always be a part of politics. So, the only way to combat it is to make money itself irrelevant.
The way this can be accomplished is by creating the conditions where it does not matter if one spends one to possibly five billion dollars during a campaign, note that this figure is before the special interests get involved. Through either scheduling, or media restrictions, or other means unknown or unstated at this time, the conditions need to be set so that any ungodly sum of money is taken off the table when it comes to any election.
I manage digital projects for a living and there quickly gets to be a point where throwing more bodies at a problem does not generate positive results. Twelve coders working in parallel cannot complete a relatively short term goal most often. To complete the task, you want two coders to sync and be left alone for a week or so to bang it out. The same must be true for campaigns and their cash – they need to have negative results for throwing more money at the problem. If this happens, then maybe we’ll start to see our political discourse and system reformed in a way that sticks for a good bit of time.

politics

Praise Song for the Day

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I was very impressed by the poem “Praise Song for the Day” that was written and read by Elizabeth Alexander at the Inauguration, though I was surprised that the current Poet Laureate Kay Ryan did not perform this job.
The poem was straight forward and profound at the same time, something that is often difficult to achieve in poetry, and I looked all day for the text of this beautifully simple poem. I liked how it described the every day and especially the stanza which reads, “We encounter each other in words, words spiny or smooth, whispered or declaimed; words to consider, reconsider.” That is what I do with this blog – meet you with my words, sometimes taken from others, sometimes written by myself. We lurch along this life, moving from one moment to the next, never realizing except in extreme circumstances what is routine and what is exceptional.
Thanks to the Grey Lady and CQ transcriptions, below is a transcript of the inaugural poem. If you missed it the first time or couldn’t wait to read it again, enjoy.
“Praise Song for the Day”
Each day we go about our business, walking past each other, catching each others’ eyes or not, about to speak or speaking. All about us is noise. All about us is noise and bramble, thorn and din, each one of our ancestors on our tongues. Someone is stitching up a hem, darning a hole in a uniform, patching a tire, repairing the things in need of repair.
Someone is trying to make music somewhere with a pair of wooden spoons on an oil drum with cello, boom box, harmonica, voice.
A woman and her son wait for the bus.
A farmer considers the changing sky; A teacher says, “Take out your pencils. Begin.”
We encounter each other in words, words spiny or smooth, whispered or declaimed; words to consider, reconsider.
We cross dirt roads and highways that mark the will of someone and then others who said, “I need to see what’s on the other side; I know there’s something better down the road.”
We need to find a place where we are safe; We walk into that which we cannot yet see.
Say it plain, that many have died for this day. Sing the names of the dead who brought us here, who laid the train tracks, raised the bridges, picked the cotton and the lettuce, built brick by brick the glittering edifices they would then keep clean and work inside of.
Praise song for struggle; praise song for the day. Praise song for every hand-lettered sign; The figuring it out at kitchen tables.
Some live by “Love thy neighbor as thy self.”
Others by first do no harm, or take no more than you need.
What if the mightiest word is love, love beyond marital, filial, national. Love that casts a widening pool of light. Love with no need to preempt grievance.
In today’s sharp sparkle, this winter air, anything can be made, any sentence begun.
On the brink, on the brim, on the cusp — praise song for walking forward in that light.

politics

Yes. We. Did!

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Let’s start with the obvious: Barack Hussein Obama is now the President Elect of the United States and will become the 44th President when he is inaugurated on Jan 20, 2009. I have only two words: hot damn.
Last night, I started the evening in my apartment with a home cooked meal, a great bottle of wine and even better company before moving on to a bar in the UES. Before I left, there were many high fives and fist bumps traded as CNN reported state after state going to Obama. At the watering hole, I continued to watch CNN which was playing on a wall mounted TV and when I noticed a countdown clock for when the west coast polls would close up shop, I turned to a friend and said, “They are going to call it for Barack the second the polls close. You watch.”
Soon the clock struck 0:10 and I, along with a roomful of others, proceeded to audibly count down to zero like it was New Years Eve. When the clock hit 0:00 sure enough “Barack Obama Wiins Presidency” flashed up on the screen and everyone went wild. There were toasts, cheers, hoots, claps and hugs exchanged by all. Quickly, my small group finished our drinks and moved to another establishment a few blocks away, one with better TVs and a much better sound system to listen to the speeches.
The whole bar quieted down when both of the candidates spoke. McCain’s speech was the best I’ve ever heard him give. That being said, it cemented in my thoughts the idea that he’ll always be a soldier – ready to dutifully follow his leader – and not the general he hoped to be. I think he secretly knows he isn’t General or Admiral material and I think we are better off with him in the Senate.
Then came Barack. If you missed Obama’s acceptance speech I would highly recommend that you listen to it. The words powerful, moving, emotional and inspiring all come to mind. To see him walk out on stage with his wife and children, to see the multi-hued crowd explode, to hear the multi-hued bar I was in explode, man oh man, it was flat out cathartic. I believe I was shouting “yes yes yes” over and over again.
One thing is for certain: Brand America just got a serious dose of anabolic steroids. One part of the awesome power of Brand America is its “Shining City on a Hill” ideal and the fact that we have a Statue of Liberty crying out in New York Harbor, “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” Obama said in a 2007 speech that “I still believe that America is the last, best hope on earth. We just have to show the world why this is so.” I truly believe simply electing him as our President is a huge step in that direction.
Take for instance what prominent Saudi columnist Dawood al-Shirian had to say:

“Today, reality in America has superseded fantasy. … Americans have struck a deadly blow to racism all over the world. Americans have regained themselves and have regained the American dream. The picture of the U.S. that was disfigured by the Republicans in the past eight years fell from the wall today. The picture of the America we had in our minds has taken its place.”

The Kenyan government declared a national holiday (Barack’s dad is from there) and people are partying all over the world. To steal Reagan’s line, its morning in America and the future, while daunting, looks brighter than it has in a long, long time.
I care so deeply about America’s image abroad because if it wasn’t for it’s “Last, best hope” reputation I might not even be alive. My ancestors all left the Pale of Settlement (basically Poland / Russia) around 1910 and came to America because it represented their “last, best hope.” They faced vicious pogroms and ever increasing intolerance in their native land while America offered the possibility of a better life – for them and their descendants.
Their decision to head West across the Atlantic was monumental because everyone in my family who stayed in Europe was killed in the Holocaust. Its not hyperbole to say that if my ancestors had decided to stay put and not uproot their entire lives to head to the Lower East Side, if they did not tie their future to the promise of America, I probably would not be around.
I’ve been deeply affectedly by my family’s immigrant experience and recognize how lucky I am to be a 3rd generation American citizen even though I was disappointed when Bush won in 2000 and crushed when he defeated Kerry in 2004. I have never been able to fathom how the country I love and believe in so much has been heading straight to hell in a hand basket (I will not rehash 8 years worth of problems in this post). I’ve prayed for things to turn around before I get so dispirited that, like my ancestors, I begin to entertain the idea of “Where would be better?” While that still is a far way off, we’ve been heading down a dark path. A McCain victory would have only validated the past 8 years worth of nonsense and it truly would have made me question the motivations of my fellow citizens. It also would have made me incredibly fearful about what the next 4 years would bring.
Thankfully, Obama’s victory has pulled America back from the brink of insanity though this is just the end of the beginning. The 4th generation Americans in my family (namely my daughter and my niece) need their future’s promise restored. There are many challenges both foreign and domestic ahead and we all should be prepared to make sacrifices, whether they be time, money, resources or some combination of all three. That being said, the day is full of promise. As our President Elect said, “Let’s get to work.”

politics

Vote!

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I arrived at my local polling place at 6:00 AM and found there was already a line down the block. My wife, my daughter and I all went together – it was a family affair – and it was pretty emotional. It was an incredible feeling to have my daughter in my arms while I was behind the curtain pulling the lever.
If you couldn’t tell by now based on my past posts, here is what I hope will be served tonight for dessert:

Pic via Andrew Sullivan

politics

Republicans Best Pray for Bad Weather

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If you are in a battleground state today, you might see someone in an elephant mask doing a rain dance. In 2007 study titled “Republicans Should Pray for Rain: Weather, Turnout and Voting in U.S. Presidential Elections,” Brad T. Gomez, Thomas Hanford and George A. Krause concluded that every inch of rain above average on Election Day, gives Republicans an additional 2.5 percent of the vote, and every inch of snow above average increases the Republican vote share by 0.6 percent.
So what is the forecast for Tuesday in the main battleground states? Weatherbill, a private online weather risk management service based in San Francisco, has crunched the numbers for seven such states, looking at historical data in each state’s capital city, and has arrived at much the same conclusions as the National Weather Service: fair skies and little chance of rain in most, but not all, of the places that are still up for grabs.
Via The Caucus

politics

One Day More…

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No, this is not a Les Mis themed post though if Barack does not win tomorrow, I would not be surprised if there were some barricades erected. Then again, the same could be said regarding McCain as our country is pretty polarized right now – it will be very interesting to see what transpires the next year post-election.
Here are two election related things that I thought might get you fired up to vote tomorrow.
First, if you haven’t listened to the tape of Sarah Palin getting pranked by a Canadian radio station you don’t know what you are missing. It is unbelievable – she actually thinks she is talking to French PM Nicholas Sarkozy.
Second, I found a site I love called This. Fucking. Election. The site’s sole feature is a vertical column of words (where some are bigger than others tag cloud style) that mattered during the past two years of primary and general election campaigning. Its a great refresher on all that has transpired and it really makes me realize what a long strange trip its been.

politics

"And The Endorsement Goes To…"

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Newspaper editorial boards across the land are endorsing candidates left and right as Election Day is right around the corner. Regarding the Presidential race, a number of endorsement have been made for both Obama and McCain but all of the noteworthy ones have all gone to Obama. These news making endorsements are interesting for a few reasons, like history, personality and geography, and I’ll illustrate three that have gone Obama’s way.
First there is the history department. How does the fact that the Chicago Tribune has endorsed a Democrat for the first time in its paper’s history sound? In doing so, the paper said Obama is the “strongest candidate to address the nation’s economic woes and lead us through a perilous time and restore in us a common sense of national purpose.” The fact that this paper endorsed Obama is huge. The paper’s founder in fact helped found the GOP. The paper ha been around for 161 years and you would have thought they would have endorsed at least one Dem in that time but the answer is no – Barack is the first and their endorsement is a powerful one.
Next there is the personality department. If a major Democrat endorsed McCain, it would be news and vice versa. So, if you didn’t know by now Colin Powell said he was voting for Obama last week on “Meet the Press.” His reasons were sound, incredibly detailed, well thought out and very tough with which to argue. I just sat back and marveled at how damning this must have been to McCain. Not what you want people talking about, that’s for sure.
Last, regarding geography, people all over the nation are paying attention to the endorsements that come from different regions of the land. One such regional endorsement especially caught my eye tonight: the Anchorage Daily News, Alaska’s largest and most read newspaper, has endorsed Barack Obama for President. Among the reasons, it stated in its editorial:

Gov. Palin’s nomination clearly alters the landscape for Alaskans as we survey this race for the presidency — but it does not overwhelm all other judgment. The election, after all is said and done, is not about Sarah Palin, and our sober view is that her running mate, Sen. John McCain, is the wrong choice for president at this critical time for our nation.

Election day is only 9 days away and so far, to quote the Dead, “What a long strange trip its been.” I cannot wait to see how it all shakes out. I’m hopefully for a true change and for my daughter’s future. I’m still nervous, polls and all, and will be until the morning of November 5th when I truly know how this whole thing has turned out.

politics

Being a 21st Century Veep

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A recent NYT article “Vice President: The Heartbeat Job” is about what it means to be a Veep today. Not enough has been made of the VP debate when Palin interpreted her potential future job’s role & responsibilities or the “Article One Smackdown” that Biden laid on her when he said that Cheney has been “the most dangerous vice president we’ve had in American history.”
In the article, Joel K. Goldstein, a law professor at St. Louis University and author of The Modern American Vice Presidency: The Transformation of a Political Institution says,

“There are so many incoming missiles that the president is really going to need help no matter how he structures his presidency. Yes, we need to know whether the vice president is ready to occupy the highest office, can handle a crisis and be trusted with the nuclear codes. But, equally important, do they have something to offer that will be meaningful in helping the next administration succeed?”

I think (hope – pray) it’s pretty clear that Biden has a lot to offer Obama while Palin has very little to offer McCain. Score one to the O ticket.
The NYT also feels that not enough has been made of how Palin responded to the Veep question in the debate. Their opinion piece Dick Cheney, Role Model is a nice read as well.