Tuesday, November 02, 2004
Election Day, 2004
I voted on my way to work this morning -- a straight ticket, the first time I've ever done that, if I recall correctly. (Which way did I vote? The way I said I was going to.)
I had the pleasure of writing in a vote for my mother for 3rd Congressional District, Massachusetts. (No, she's not running there; she lost in the primary to a "spoiler" candidate, resulting in an all-but-unopposed incumbent, alas.) It won't count for anything, of course... but it brought a smile to my mother's face, which is worth a lot to me.
(Turns out she had specifically requested that people not write her name in, but rather vote for the "spoiler", giving every possible chance to getting the incumbent out. That didn't apply to me, since I'm not in her District. And at least one constituent ignored her request... she told me this morning that she received an e-mail from a soldier in Iraq reading: "too late, I already voted for you".)
Voting is, of course, our civic duty -- one of the small (but utterly essential) responsibilities that come with the privilege of being an American citizen. And many of us know, this year, the feelings of voting in an election in which the outcome matters a lot to you. But I have to say, it's a special pleasure to vote for someone close to you; I'm very glad I did.
And now, back to my regular (paying) job!! I don't intend to follow the exit polls today, since they don't mean much to me; I see it as an attempt by the news media to create artificial suspense, at best. But I will be interested in voter-turnout statistics. Many are expecting this to be the highest voter-turnout election in many years, and I very much hope that to be the case.
Oh, and a message to both of my regular readers: if you haven't voted yet, please do so! (As an ex-girlfriend of mine used to say, if you don't vote, you have no right to complain about the results.)
respectfully,
Daniel in Brookline
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I had the pleasure of writing in a vote for my mother for 3rd Congressional District, Massachusetts. (No, she's not running there; she lost in the primary to a "spoiler" candidate, resulting in an all-but-unopposed incumbent, alas.) It won't count for anything, of course... but it brought a smile to my mother's face, which is worth a lot to me.
(Turns out she had specifically requested that people not write her name in, but rather vote for the "spoiler", giving every possible chance to getting the incumbent out. That didn't apply to me, since I'm not in her District. And at least one constituent ignored her request... she told me this morning that she received an e-mail from a soldier in Iraq reading: "too late, I already voted for you".)
Voting is, of course, our civic duty -- one of the small (but utterly essential) responsibilities that come with the privilege of being an American citizen. And many of us know, this year, the feelings of voting in an election in which the outcome matters a lot to you. But I have to say, it's a special pleasure to vote for someone close to you; I'm very glad I did.
And now, back to my regular (paying) job!! I don't intend to follow the exit polls today, since they don't mean much to me; I see it as an attempt by the news media to create artificial suspense, at best. But I will be interested in voter-turnout statistics. Many are expecting this to be the highest voter-turnout election in many years, and I very much hope that to be the case.
Oh, and a message to both of my regular readers: if you haven't voted yet, please do so! (As an ex-girlfriend of mine used to say, if you don't vote, you have no right to complain about the results.)
respectfully,
Daniel in Brookline
