I have updates to post later this evening, but I'm already late this morning getting away from the humble abode.
IT'S TIME TO VOTE, PEOPLE!!!
I DON'T CARE WHO YOU VOTE FOR, BUT VOTE!!!
It's that day again, people, when we elect someone else to make our future decisions. Choose soberly, choose informed, and choose wisely. But go to the polls and choose.
I spent sometime reading up on the local candidates and finally made a decision on whom I like in a couple of races. Don't know how tight the County Commissioners race here will be, but I do suspect the Democratic Primary for Governor could be close...that campaign has been testy and nasty and just damn mean as of late.
Considering where I've moved to, my actual voting opportunities are greatly reduced as we don't have a lot of positions up for grabs in this primary. However, if I still lived over in Durham that would be much different, as they finally get around to voting for a permanent replacement to fill the District Attorney seat once held by the infamous Mike Nifong. God bless Durham County...they so need to get that stage behind them somehow and start making some PR progress once more.
Even though I'm registered now as Unaffiliated/Independent (can't remember how they call it here), I am thrilled that so many people are finally taking elections and the whole voting process seriously. The numbers of new voters being registered (especially among the Democratic ranks) these days are quite inspiring. I'm sure that almost all of that comes on the heels of the Democratic Presidential campaign between Senators Obama and Clinton. I'm hopeful...as I am prone to be in times like these, especially as Senator McCain's declaration to stay in Iraq frightens the hell out of me for this country's future...that no matter who eventually gets the nomination in that race, that all of the loser's new voters do not turn away their support for the eventual chosen candidate. And certainly not from voting altogether. We'll see.
Obviously, if Senator Obama loses tonight here (as he's already in a close race in Indiana that's a virtual tie), his campaign is in trouble and his 'new ideas' momentum shifted for something far more 'old school' Clintonesque. Senator Obama's views play very well here, in a state with a lot of urban professionals that have come from other areas of the country to follow good jobs. Well-educated, articulate, and forward-thinking African-American black men are very common in the universities, industries, and suburbs here, but he also inspires and 'shows a way' to minorities still seeking the American Dream. He has three major Achilles' heels...inexperience on the world stage and in national politics, the apparent inability to get the votes of some white groups (such as Catholics and middle-aged and older women), and the fact that some in this state (and is this country) will not vote for a black man, period. But, should be win tonight, he'll draw blood from at least one of these demons. Senator Obama draws on the 'idealist vibe' that marked the civil rights movement (which had many milestones within this state) and the hopeful enthusiasm about the good of government not seen since President Kennedy in the 1960s. Untested hope versus experienced combat, if you will. Win or lose, though, Senator Obama will continue on...although the rest of the campaign will become bloody as the infamous non-counted delegate issue from Michigan and Florida will come front and center.
And if Senator Clinton loses tonight here (as she is predicted to do by about 15 points or so, per The Drudge Report this morning, but polls are infamously wrong here), her campaign is in trouble and the young voters (especially young women, whom she has not won over here), African-Americans, and educated professionals will lead the charge. We are a very divided state when it comes to Senator Clinton...and, yes, how she courted/bashed Senator Obama about 'the black vote' in her campaign will be a major issue in her loss and/or defeat tonight. Prior to this campaign, Senator Clinton could have easily counted on the black vote, and with help of her husband, could have counted on the vote from white women. At least in this part of the state, some cities are practically all liberal-leaning, too. Unfortunately, that has changed, and further disappointing to Democratic voters here is the fact that it's Hillary running and not the former President. No matter what the outcome of all this, some enterprising Bob Woodward-type will write a fascinating book about how Senator Clinton overplayed her hand...even though she held a full house. Dissecting her campaign's decisions will, in itself, become a cottage industry. Win or lose, though, Senator Clinton will continue on...although the rest of the campaign will become bloody as the infamous non-counted delegate issue from Michigan and Florida will come front and center.
If Senator Obama wins, this mess continues as Senator Clinton will keep fighting.
If Senator Clinton wins, this mess continues as Senator Obama will keep fighting.
This primary here and in Indiana settles nothing...both sides have now become so damn entrenched against the other...but how the candidates react to the voters' decisions will help forge the future path of the Democratic party, and of the country we call home itself. Especially as we see what mess the current President has left behind for us to reverse and solve.
Hope is more powerful...any day...than fighting. And I am simply done with all the fighting. These are trying times for us all, and continued and further division amongst us will get us nowhere. I know what we've done and what we are doing at present...let us try doing something new and see what happens.
Call me a romantic idealist, but I'm voting for Senator Obama.
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