Pick the red pill or the blue pill

Today was the day I could finally vote for a nominee to win the 2008 elections for the Presidency of the United States! I live in Virginia which in the past has meant we had separate poll days for the Democratic and Republican primaries. The primaries have meant very little to me before since I’m a registered independent and wasn’t eligible to vote for either party anyway. Well, Virginia has a different system now in which the primaries for each party are held on the same day. Seems like a good idea in that you don’t have to bother kids in school (where many elections are held in most communities) twice for essentially the same thing.

I was good with it until I entered the polling station. I walked up to the Registrars, gave them my I.D., stated my name and address so they could verify who I was and that I was registered to vote in the Commonwealth of Virginia and then it happened. They asked which party I was going to vote for. I blinked.

Nothing happened.

I blinked again and that still had no effect on the Registrars,

I blinked once more and for added measure threw in a shoulder move with a slight neck twist. In Hollywood movies this has always been a sign of, “Something’s wrong here and you need to say something to the man with the nervous twitch to move the plot along”. The Registrars seemed to not have gone to the same movies as I have (which is a shame since it ALWAYS has led to comic mischief and high jinks in every early Tom Hanks movie. You know, the ones where he was still funny?).

Obviously I was going to have to actually articulate my concerns. This has never in the nearly 48 years of my life led to anything good happening (and certainly not once to funny high jinks) and has usually left all concerned with a clear and unshakable belief that I’m completely incapable of forming a spoken, well thought-out opinion worthy of a Washington Post editorial or even a fairly interesting drunken rant. This blog is a clear example of what I’m talking about. I’ve told you there was a problem that I wanted to speak to someone about and immediately was sidetracked into nervous twitches and old Tom Hanks movies. As much as I would love to blame society at large, or that my parents wouldn’t buy me a pony when I was a small boy, I know deep in my heart that the fault lies with me.

I still haven’t said what bothered me and now that I am finally going to tell you it seems so anti-climatic.

My problem is what difference does it make in a combined primary what party I’m voting for? I asked this of the Registrar and was told in a monotonous I’ve already answered this question many times before and you should know this and not bother me with such non-Washington Post/Drunken rant worthy blogginess that you should be questioning your own sanity for asking such a stupid question. HA! The joke’s on HIM! I’ve been questioning my sanity for YEARS! The “answer” was that the software was set up to only show the candidates for each party.

Interesting. What if I asked for an Independent primary card? Or a write-in? Maybe I want to vote for Ronald Reagan again (Being a breathing-challenged, Necrotic-American shouldn’t be held against someone looking for higher political office in my opinion).

All jokes aside, I have no problem with primaries. They help weed out the more crazy candidates for more thoughtful, well spoken and deeply respected members of the two main parties….. Alright, THIS time I really mean it, no jokes.

Having combined primaries is a good idea. Less disruption and they are spaced out enough for the parties and candidates to get their messages out for why they would be worthy of your vote. HOWEVER, just like during any other voting process, why should I have to declare myself a red state/blue state/ Democratic/ Republican/ Conservative/ Liberal whatever just to vote. The problems of this country will not be solved by rhetoric, nor by one particular party by themselves no matter how much they promise it will be. Maybe one good first step would be to make an attempt to tone it down. Stop the negative campaigning. Actually make promises that you intend to keep instead of just telling the faithful what you believe they want to hear. Stop calling Republicans war mongering fascists or Democrats tax and spend liberals. Tell people what you plan to do to actually make this country a better place for the people who live here instead of feeding fears about what will happen if they the audacity to vote for someone else. Tell the truth and let the chips fall where they may.

To the eventual winner for the Presidency of the United States of America: Be worthy of the trust you asked for and mend the bridges of the last 50 years.