Why are you voting?
It’s been two years since Obama took office. Two years after 8 years of full-frontal tomfoolery and I am tired. I am tired of arguing with folks on the left. I am through arguing with folks on the right. I’m tired of the pundits and the “enthusiasm gap.” I’m tired of pounding furiously on keyboards and touch screens. I’m tired of forcing myself to forego reading the comment sections of most blogs because the racism, xenophobia, homophobia, and sheer stupidity bottles my mind. All of it makes my pituitary tumor go bananas, which, in turn makes my hormones go bananas, which, in turn makes ME go bananas.
Despite my weariness, I am fired up about voting on Tuesday. I like voting on election day. I know some of you out there like to vote early. I like voting with the masses, and then I like sitting at home watching the results. I remember staying up as long as I could in 2000, and finally dragging myself to bed, hoping and wishing that when I woke up in the morning, Al Gore would be president.
I remember election night, 2008 like it was yesterday. I remember taking the day off from work because I wanted to sit and watch the east coast results pour in. I remember being pissed off that, after calling the No on H8 headquarters multiple times to figure out where I could go and what I could do to make sure that abomination of a proposition did not pass, I never received a call back. I remember sitting at home checking Nate Silver’s blog; using it as whisky for my election anxiety; “PleasenoPalinPleasenoPalin” was running like ticker tape through my mind.
I remember crying when Obama won. I remember drinking when Obama won. I remember crying when Proposition 8 passed. I remember drinking when Proposition 8 passed.
As tired as I am, however, I’m not as tired as the millions of Americans who are looking to us to make sure the Republicans don’t get the keys back (even if some of those Americans don’t understand that the Republicans shouldn’t get the keys back because those Americans have been glamoured by all the crap flowing from the Tea Party, or Republicans, or Fox News, or “manic progressives.”)
This is no longer about “I love Obama!” or “I hate Obama!” or “Obama? Meh.” It’s not even about me (so troll away if you must). I’ll be fine, with or without Obama and the Democrats. In fact, I’ll be better, actually–in terms of material wealth–if the Republicans take over. But I don’t want to be better financially. It’s not about me. It’s about people like B. Yung. It’s about people who have risen above the short stick they drew at birth, and it’s about all those people who have yet to achieve their potential.
That’s why I’m voting.
Why are you voting?
Fwiffo
I’m not voting on Tuesday. Let me tell you why.
I voted early this past Monday.
gwangung
@Fwiffo: Dammit, dude, you beat me to that line.
wonkie
I voted the day i got my ballot in the mail. Iunderstand people who love the ritual but voting at a booth means driving thirty miles into town…
Angry Black Lady
i don’t know how one rises above a short stick, but, there you have it.
also, WP hates me.
Linkmeister
I’m with you. I like voting on election day. Edited: Wonkie, I drive right past my polling place every day, so I don’t have your problem. If I were in your shoes I’d vote by mail as well.
Other reasons to vote? Habit, plus we have two races out here that are important to me: Governor and Congressperson. The Republicans running have either been bought by the religious right or by Rove and the RNC, and the ads have been nasty. I want to stick it to them.
pattonbt
I vote(d) because the other side is wicked crazy. And I’ll take OK over crazy any day of the week.
My philosophy boils down to this. The crazy side of the left makes me laugh. The crazy side of the right scares the crap out of me (even though I can pass as a card carrying member and would be gladly accepted in their club).
So I would take incompetence over hate any day of the week.
Kenneth Almquist
“I’ll be better, actually—in terms of material wealth—if the Republicans take over.”
Don’t be to sure about that. Personally, I did a lot better financially paying Clinton tax rates in a Clinton economy than paying Bush tax rates in a Bush economy. Presumably the Republicans will spend the next two years trying to make the economy as bad as possible in order to maximize their chances of winning the 2012 election. I hard time seeing how that could be good for any American’s material wealth.
Swellsman
Yeah,
I voted the first day I could — I always do that.
I was an election watcher for Obama in a deeply Red County here in North Carolina . . . No one seemed particularly happy to see me show up. And I brought donuts!
But I have to say that the people I met at the diner, ‘cross the street, seemed nice enough. I watched for hours, as black and white voters cast their ballots, and I knew how the election would turn out: we would lose the county I was watching for.
And the county I live in.
And the county where I work.
But that was Okay. ‘Cause I knew we would win the state. And we did.
I still got hope that we might not to bad this year.
Allan
I’m voting so that I don’t have to resort to Second Amendment remedies.
Martin
I vote on election day because I like visiting the folks at the retirement home.
I vote because that’s what people that care about America do. I really believe that.
Calming Influence
I’m voting because I’m a patriotic fucking American and that’s what patriotic fucking Americans do. And by voting as a patriotic fucking American I don’t mean just going in to a voting booth and marking a ballot or flipping a lever in some random fashion; I mean taking the time to learn about the choices you’re asked to make, and choosing one candidate or issue over another for some reason other than you saw one 30 second political ad and said “hell yeah!” or “hell no!”.
Because that just marks you as an ignorant American douche bag.
Church Lady
I vote because it is my right, my responsibility and my privilege.
ruemara
I love election day. I love the process of democracy, because I’m from a country where you can tell it’s an election season because everyone has a gun to make their political point. We do this change every 2 years without resorting to that, so it makes me proud. Only issue-I can’t vote. So I work to GOTV, support appropriate 5013cs and educate as much as possible. I spent the week before the election in ’08 driving around in my anti-prop 8 mobile (my beater, plastered with signs. I think the signs are worth more than my beater.) I may never get to vote in America, it’s just too expensive to become a citizen (FUCK YOU GWB), but, as long as I’m here I’ll bust my ass to make sure America doesn’t become the cesspit Teahadists want it to be.
morzer
Ten minutes to go and vote, versus the possibility of being ass-fucked by a psychotic gang of clowns and thieves for two years… hmmm.. complex choices.
Kyle
Interesting article —
ObamaCare IS Working – That’s WHY It’s a Problem
http://www.angrybearblog.com/2010/10/obamacare-is-working-thats-why-its.html
An old friend of mine is in the process of losing his job…he sells medical insurance in Texas and Indiana. And he’s been told that over the next three years, his income will be reduced, and basically eliminated entirely ca. 2015.
Translation on a macro level: insurance companies—far from acting as if they are “uncertain”—are cutting the commissions they are paying to agents in preparation for greater competition as the phases of the PPACA come into effect.
And for those interested in “bending the cost curve,” the first fruits of that effort are being realized.
JBerardi
Because, what kind of ridiculous asshole reads political blogs and doesn’t vote?
Mnemosyne
When I was little my mother used to take me into the voting booth with her and explain the whole process to me as she did it. Elections were always presented as a way to let your voice be heard and I could barely wait until I turned 18 to be able to vote …
… by which time I was going to college out of state and couldn’t vote because I didn’t know I would need to register in my home state to do it and I was basically living at school and didn’t go home for anything but the holidays. I did finally figure out how to vote absentee in 1992 and that was the year I cast my first vote. (IIRC I may even have registered to vote when I changed my driver’s license from Illinois to Arizona.)
I haven’t missed a year since (though, since California loves to do three or four elections every friggin’ year, I have missed a few of those — just never missed every election in a single year).
J. Michael Neal
@Church Lady: What she said. It’s not like there are any tough races here. No senate race. My Islamofascist congressman is getting re-elected because Minneapolis hates America. And, unlike asiangrrl, I’m not worried about hotdish bland Mark Dayton beating Tom Emmer.
Besides, it’s not like I’ve got a lot else to do.
MeDrewNotYou
Al Franken in Lies and the Lying Liars That Tell Them talked about the difference between loving America like a kid loves their mommy who does no wrong, and loving America like an adult and helping it to grow and become better. America does a lot of stupid shit. We’ve killed brown people, we’ve sabotaged governments that we didn’t like, we’ve treated our poor/minorities/women like shit, and we’ve acted like a total asshole far too often. Then again, America has produced some of the brightest people in the world, we’ve cured tons of diseases, we’ve helped feed and clothe and shelter the most helpless around the world, we’ve defended freedom when it was really in danger, and we’ve gradually lived up to our ideals. I’m ashamed of all the evil we’ve done, but proud of the good. America can do wrong, but we can fix our mistakes and be the better for it. I love America despite our faults and because I believe in our potential.
I’m voting because I love America. And because I get a nifty sticker.
Suffern ACE
I’ve always kind of liked my current rep and don’t think he should lose, and he probably won’t.
Odie Hugh Manatee
Because I love my country and I refuse to give up just to let the stupid people out there ru(i)n what little we have left here. While I feel like I am fighting a losing battle I refuse to give up.
I’m not from Wasilla so I’m not a quitta.
Voting done here (Oregon) since we can do so from the comfort of our home. With >85% voting on average, our state gets out the vote by staying home. I’m lucky enough to have DeFazio and Wyden as my guys and I want them to stay where they are. I live in a very conservative county so I am in the minority here. Still, I want to be heard and voting is the only way to do that.
Martin
@Kyle: Yeah, how many times was I called an apologist and Obot for declaring time and time again that ACA was a good bill?
Angry Black Lady
@JBerardi: FTW.
Mnemosyne
I may decide to be a super-lefty this year by riding my bike to the polls and then continuing on to work since work is only about 3 miles away. If I do that, I need to pick up a taillight for my bike this weekend so I don’t get creamed by one of our talented Glendale drivers (about 1 minute in).
Fortunately, no one was injured, even the idiot driver who couldn’t tell the difference between the gas and the brake.
IndyLib
I’m voting so that I can vote against the asshat that is my Congresscritter (Paul “Dickhead” Ryan), so that I can vote for Russ Feingold, not only because I like him and I think on the whole he has been a good Senator for Wisconsin, but also because I think his opponent, Ron Johnson, is one of the unsung wingnut whackjob teanuts in this year’s parade of Repug paranoid idiots, and I can’t stand the thought of having to write his office to bitch about every vote he takes as my Senator for the next 6 fucking years.
I’m actually quite confused about what the hell the deal here is in my adopted state. Wisconsin voted for Obama by 13 damned points, Russ won his last election pretty easily, unemployment here isn’t good, but it’s lower than the national average and most Wisconsinites come across as pretty moderate, mellow folks. I simply do not see how the hell we go from Russ Feingold to a crazy fucking nimrod who said that he thinks global warming is caused purely by solar activity, and that increased carbon emissions are good for trees.
And I vote because I give a good goddamn what happens to my country and the people in it.
Martin
@MeDrewNotYou:
I always give mine to my daughter. I wonder if a teabagger will see her later in the day and have her arrested? Maybe she’ll just be the subject of Malkin and Rush’s unhinged screaming.
MeDrewNotYou
That got me to reminiscing. My favorite memory was getting a little misty-eyed seeing all the people in Grant’s Park. I was with my best friend Patrick and we were laughing and smiling. The camera panned over to Jesse Jackson and Jackson was just full of tears. Both of us started to cry, looked up embarrassingly, laughed, and hugged. Patrick’s girlfriend then walked in, smiled and laughed at us. I’m really glad that I’ll be able to tell my kids and grandkids about that election and how I was a tiny part of it (I helped Obama win Indiana!).
Angry Black Lady
@Calming Influence: aw, crap. you mean i gotta read all those pesky fliers that burst forth from my mailbox because i hadn’t checked my mail in a week?
dangit!
Bob Loblaw
This is statistically unlikely. Income earners have traditionally been better off under the (comparatively) high-growth Democratic eras than the (comparatively) low-tax Republican ones. Rising tides and all that shit.
Obama may actually be the first Democratic president in the post-New Deal era to buck that trend and see continued rapid consolidation of wealth in the upper 1-5% at the expense of the middle class. It’s not necessarily likely with six years still to play out, but it’s a very real possibility at this point.
MeDrewNotYou
@Martin: Vote early, vote often, and vote young!
J. Michael Neal
@IndyLib: Never fear. Minnesota is laughing at you cheeseheads.
Bob Loblaw
@MeDrewNotYou:
Technically, so did the Soviet Union then.
jl
I vote because I am a citizen and a tax payer, and that is what I DO! Dammit!
Then go knock on doors and turn out all I can.
I like to look at them big numbers on the teevee, and note to myself that the numbers for the side of goodness and right thinking would be one less, had I not voted, win or lose.
I think we should require citizens to vote, as I think Australia does. We use the Australian ballot, so why not adopt that idea too?
Arclite
Does anyone know who this “reader” is who wrote into Sully and appears on Fox a lot?
Link:
http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2010/10/should-liberals-appear-on-fox-news-1.html#more
IndyLib
@J. Michael Neal:
Hey there, be careful or I’ll challenge you to a duel of insanely polite inanities.
And I may have adopted Wisconsin as home, but a cheesehead I’ll never be. Too many years as a Bronco fan (though I plan on continuing to pretend they’ve gone on vacation until McDaniels goes the hell away).
MeDrewNotYou
@Bob Loblaw: Next thing we know, you’ll be speaking fondly of “Uncle Joe!” Ann Coulter is on to you Commie! ;)
morzer
@Arclite:
Judging by the claim to have triumphed every time, I’d say that the writer is Comrade Bill O’Reilly.
J. Michael Neal
@IndyLib: All Wisconsonites are cheeseheads, even if not all cheeseheads are Packers fans.
Fortunately, I get to blame Michelle Bachman on St. Cloud.
Yutsano
@IndyLib:
Fixteth for accuracy.
P.S. voted and mailed. My civic duty is done. I’ll take my pony now plz.
morzer
@Yutsano:
A thousand years of carefully not watching the Broncos seems perilously close to overkill.
aliasofwestgate
I vote because i can.
I vote because i want to see ‘Obamacare’ continued and tweaked to a better version at some point. I work as a pha.rm.acy technician so i see a lot of the healthcare results firsthand. There’s still a long road to go, and this is part of it. Making sure that there’s fewer whackjobs in congress to block anything that needs to be done. Be it healthcare or whatever. I really don’t want to see what the Teahadists would do with what little has been passed these last two years.
I’m not tired of Obama, i’m tired of the GOP and the ongoing fight against their propaganda. It’s blatent, it’s exhausting and it’s crazy as all hell. This a marathon, not a sprint. So i’m in for the long haul.
Yutsano
@morzer: I seem to have done all right in that regard myself. Of course having an old friend from college who bled their colors assisted there.
morzer
@Yutsano:
When did you reach the thousand year mark? Is there something you haven’t told us? Are you in fact, undead?! Also too – did the Broncos suck back in AD 1010 as well?
aliasofwestgate
Dammit. i’m in moderation. *pouts*
I vote because i can. I can’t imagine not voting, not anymore. I’ve been voting since 1996, my first presidential election since i turned 18 in 95. I kept Clinton in office.
Michigan has no early voting, so i’ll be there tuesday with the masses.
jl
Ok, here we go. One of the founders says it may be necessary to require the citizens to vote. So it must be OK. I am sure the Tea People will agree.
THURSDAY JUNE 21
Col. HAMILTON urged the necessity of 3 years….Frequency of elections tended to make the people listless to them; and to facilitate the success of little cabals. This evil was complained of in all the States. In Virginia it had been lately found necessary to force the attendance & voting of the people by severe regulations.
Constitutional convention, sheeples!
Let’s do it. I would love to see the reaction of Obama proposed that everyone was required to vote by law. It would make for weeks and weeks of talking head fun.
Sly
@Arclite:
I’d put money on either Susan Estrich or Lanny Davis.
M. Bouffant
Oh, crap. Already voted; now I realize I won’t get a sticker.
Would ordinarily do it in person, but the polling place for the primary (across the st. & three doors down) is being remodeled, so the polls moved to six or eight blks. away. Nagonna walk that, even for a sticker.
Why? Brown & Boxer, ’cause if either of the upward-failing corporate drones get in, Calif. & the Senate will be ++screwed. And various propositions. Especially to defeat the ones corporations have written to help themselves.
M. Bouffant
@jl:
One of the most well-known compulsory voting systems is in Australia. All Australian citizens over the age of 18 (except those of unsound mind or those convicted of serious crimes) must be registered to vote and show up at the poll on election day. Australians who do not vote are subject to fines although those who were ill or otherwise incapable of voting on election day can have their fines waived.
Sounds good to me, though I haven’t read the pros & cons.
Carol
@M. Bouffant: I used to be completely against compulsory voting, but after reading another article about voter suppression, this could be one way of finally getting the authorities to really to take election reform and election suppression seriously. When civic actions are compulsory, interference with the same are treated seriously enough.
Filing taxes is compulsory. Therefore attempts to interfere with tax compliance have strong sanctions . A tax preparer who didn’t file his client’s taxes, or skimmed money from his/her payments would face jail. A person who tried to block jurors from going into the courthouse would be at the very least faced with court sanction. If voting were compulsory, interference with voting would be treated to the sanctions they deserve. Think about it, would there have been a Brooks Brothers riot back in 2000 if the participants knew they could face jail for doing so?
Lysana
I’m voting for a well-aged set of reasons as well as some fresh ones.
The sacrifices of the suffragettes. The chance to have my say. The duty I was taught to honor and fulfill.
And the fact my state is facing a raft of ballot measures that really fucking matter and there are races that are too damn close in the polls for words. (That’d be California’s ballot, for the record.)
Arclite
@Sly:
Ew. Lanny Davis? That hadn’t occurred to me. I thought Mara maybe, but really had no idea.
Tattoosydney
@M. Bouffant:
The primary benefit I see here in Australia is that voting is normal, in a very good way. Everyone has to vote, so everyone does – it’s what you do. Partly because of that, I suspect, our election days seem less manic than yours; there’s no real “get out the vote” drive to convince people to make the effort to vote.
I also suspect that the wider breadth of political views that get represented in our parliament (compared to the US) is linked to compulsory voting.
Anyway, the right wing over here supports the abolition of compulsory voting, and that’s enough to convince me that it must be a good thing.
mai naem
I am voting because I live in Rep. Harry Mitchell’s district. Mitchell is one of few people I have ever voted for where I was voting for him, not because he was the better of two bad choices or because he was a Dem. He’s a genuinely decent guy and is the textbook description of the term “public servant.” My representative used to be JD Hayworth.
Also too, I am tired. I am just plain tired of the GOP BS and the Blue Dogs who help them along. I am tired of Obama compromising with the GOP and at times giving almost the whole store away. I hope that sometime in the future when the Senate Dems are in the minority with a Repub president, that they treat the Repubs the exact same way the Repubs have treated them.
WereBear (itouch)
I vote because it gives me complaining rights.
And as long as there’s a right wing, o need them.
kommrade reproductive vigor
1. Because I can.
2. Because the heirs of assholes who didn’t want my grandparents to vote don’t want me to vote.
There’s almost 0 chance Voter Integrity Goons will come to my polling place, but I’m taking my camera, just in case.
Odie Hugh Manatee
@Carol:
How about an additional tax deduction or credit for having voted? I would think that the teahadists would love something like that. I think something like that would appeal to most people in our country.
Of course the
Republicansrich would scream bloody murder since it would mean the end of voter suppression and an end to voter apathy. With their owning most of the SCOTUS I am sure they would drag it all the way there.slightly_peeved
@Tattoosydney:
And technically (as you’d know, but the Americans may not), you are not required to vote; you are required to attend a polling place. Nothing making you write anything on that piece of paper before you put it in the box.
It results in a very stable electorate, because voter enthusiasm is out of the equation. The main battleground in Australian politics is sound economic management (and here, that actually means what it says, as opposed to mythical tax cut fairies).
matoko_chan
im hereditary republican. guns, dogs, and USPony Club. my ancestors were cattle barons and sweatshop owners. no actual slaveowning though…we are Yankees and cowboys.
im supposedly scary freaky smart…the kind that seriously creeps people out.
Belief systems are archeological and structural. Once holes began to appear my belief edifice the structure began to shake and came crashing down at the point Sarah Palin appeared on the scene.
I still view her with horrified incredulous loathing.
Her selection and support was pure unadulterated cynicism.
I believe that Palin has doomed the GOP to eventual forever defeat.
I worked campus GOTV on Obama’s campaign while i was still a registered republican. He was the obvious logical choice.
You might think someone with 3 stds on median population IQ would have been smart enuff to see through ‘conservatism’ before Palin.
But the strangest thing happened…..when Obama was elected all my conservative friends went absolutely bugfucking nutz– it was like demonic possession….even the uppertailers….we dont talk anymore. before the event….my group had a mix of geeks, foreign students and different political affiliations,and we had great discussions….but…
Obamas election was some sort of environmental trigger. the small subgroup of conservatives split off. we never see them anymore.
I still dont get it.
madness.
harlana
I am voting because I cannot imagine NOT voting. What is wrong with these people who say they are not voting? I keep hoping that all this talk about an “enthusiasm gap” and close races will actually motivate recalcitrant Dems to get to the polls out of pure, unadulterated fear of the alternative.
To quote Colbert: Keep Fear Alive!
DanF
@morzer: I’d vote anyway, but yeah – this is huge motivator this time around.
bookcat
I have a hundred reasons to vote. But today my reason is for that young man in the video. I’m voting for you, because I know you are tired waiting for change. Come lean on me even for just a minute. Because although I know you are strong, I’m voting for you so you don’t always have to be the only one.
comrade scott's agenda of rage
@Fwiffo:
This. Absentee since I won’t be in my own little wingnut hell here in Central Misery but in a far larger one in Topeka KS (on bidness).
@matoko_chan:
Um, they’re bigots underneath it all? I hate to ascribe bigotry to *every* right wing reaction to Obama but I also have conservative friends who actually *think* and they gladly voted for the man in 08 after watching 8 years of insanity and incompetence in the name of “conservatism”. I can look at another group of acquaintances, also conservative, also intelligent and well edumacated, who pretty much ascribe to the Faux “News” view of Obama.
How to explain the difference? They can’t get past all that presidentin’ while black thing.
Moses2317
I’m voting because it is my responsibility as a citizen to be involved in determining how our society is run, and because tens of millions of people before me sacrificed their blood, sweat, and tears to make sure that I have the right to vote.
I am voting Democratic because I believe in rationality, common sense, and reality. Also too, as the spouse of a young adult who has cancer, I am extremely grateful that we will never have to worry again about being denied health insurance coverage due to a pre-existing condition.
Winning Progressive
JimF
@pattonbt: I so agree with you.
matoko_chan
and im not tired.
i was at a campus GOTV party election night in 2008.
we were terrified that the right was going to steal the election right up to the last minute. we never got confident.
Fuckin’ 365 votes to 173 ec votes. a difference of 192 votes.
maintain vigilance, never give up, never surrender.
educate, educate, educate.
25% of the nation is cellonly. dont count us out yet.
310000 peeps have signed up on fb for the Stewart/Colbert rally.
so what if we lose the House?
we shall overcome eventually.
tick..tick….tick…..
bemused
Not voting isn’t an option. I’m not about to give up one of the simplest things I can do, vote.
matoko_chan
@comrade scott’s agenda of rage:
i can’t……i saw rational intelligent high IQ humans become bugfuckin’ nutz in an instant.
all XY, too. so maybe you are right.
Paula
I am voting and I am bringing my son.
Yes I have been discouraged, but not beaten.
Benjamin Cisco
I voted because my ancestors couldn’t.
I voted because the GOP has made their insanity obvious to see for anyone with an IQ over 40.
I voted because the thought of people with the reasoning capacity of a bowl of Cream of Wheat running things again gives me a
sadmad.I voted because Snowbilly Snooki and all her protégés need to learn that we are ALL “Real Americans”.
valdivia
Voting today. To exercise my right to say NO WAY to the crazy people.
General Stuck
I vote early so Sarah Palin won’t eat my brain.
Maody
I voted the first day of early voting in North Carolina in case I got hit by a truck or suffered a heart attack or something untoward before election day and didn’t get to because a.) I’d be dead, b.) laid up in the ICU, c.) in the loony bin due to the southern bagger ASSHATS. I DO like to vote on election day… it just seemed scarier this year. I know Elaine Marshall won’t beat Richard Burr, but I hope my county commissioners stay the same :please!:
Might end up being a poll watcher because we have an Art Pope & Co. active teanuts party that’s gun totin’, lie makin’ bunch of asshats around these parts. Did I say they are mean? And a bunch of liars?
HRA
I vote for 2 reasons. Naturally, I vote for the reason of it being my right to vote. The other reason is I must vote to maintain the memory of my father who struggled for many years and hardships to attain that right for himself. Although he no longer is here physically, he is here with me each step of the way as I go to vote.
brantl
@Carol: “Think about it, would there have been a Brooks Brothers riot back in 2000 if the participants knew they could face jail for doing so?
”
They were interfering in a government function, what they were doing was already illegal.
thomas Levenson
I vote (a) because I always do. Always. Since I turned 18 in the fall of 1976, and cast my first votes for Jimmy Carter and the late great Father Robert Drinan to now, when I can cast my first vote for the man who followed Drinan in that seat, Barney Frank. (I moved in the last year from Ed Markey’s district.)
(b) Because despite all the efforts of those on the other side, I think the fate of the country actually matters.
fuyura
I’m voting because I still can.
South of I-10
I’m voting because I always do. My vote does matter. I am taking my daughter with me. I am also voting in the ever diminishing hope that I will never again have to see David Vitter’s smug face. If you are in Louisiana, hold your nose, get off your butt and vote for Blue Dog Melancon. Anyone but Vitter.
hedgehog
@thomas Levenson:
Longtime lurker, first time commenter.
I’m a major voting geek-I turned 18 in 1976 and was more excited about being able to vote than being able to drink. First vote cast was for Jimmy Carter. To quote what a lot of you said before me: I vote because my ancestors could not. I vote because the suffragettes made it possible for me to vote. I vote because my mother taught me it was my duty. I vote because I can.
Admiral_Komack
Let me be another person who welcomes you, Angry Black Lady.
If you haven’t already, stop by Weseeyou.com.
“Why are you voting?”
Because I think voting is important, locally and nationally.
It lets me know where resources are going (or not going).
mike in dc
I vote so that the federal government can’t tax me without represen…oh, wait. Crap.
Alice Blue
I vote in spite of the fact that I live in Georgia, where every Republican redneck shitkicker on the ballot will cruise to victory. (The one exception to this, of course, is the wonderful John Lewis, who I hope lives forever). Seriously, voting down here is like being gut punched. I do it because I can’t not do it.
asiangrrlMN
Holy shit. Thank you, ABL, for the B. Yung video. I have never seen him, and it made my morning. He is amazing.
Why do I vote? (Unlike how I normally do, I’m responding before I read the comments because the video was that powerful). I vote because if I don’t, I can’t bitch. I will admit that I feel everything ABL is feeling. Sometimes, I can’t even work up a good outrage over the shitty things happening because I am just too damned tired for that. One reason I dig ABL’s posts so much is because she says what I’m thinking, only she’s a whole lot funnier than I am. And, right now, my morale is low (hee. I originally typed moral, which is also true. My moral is ALWAYS low!). I am saddened by the divide in our country and the divide in MY party (yes, the Democratic Party is my party, too). I am tired of all the bigots letting their ism flags fly with little-to-no repercussion (though that’s slowly starting to change).
In my darkest days, I think about not voting. Why bother? What difference does my vote do? “They” are going to win, anyway, and our society is on its way to ruin.
The thing is, though, first of all–voting is a civic duty. Everyone who can vote should. I believe that just as I believe paying taxes is a civic duty. In addition, I know that just a few votes can make a difference. My senator is Al Franken. We proved how a few hundred votes kicked out Coleman and elected Franken. So, votes do matter.
Like ABL, I cried when President Obama was elected. No, I wept. When Olbermann announced it, a flood of tears escaped me. For the first time, my candidate had won, and it meant something. It was important to me, personally and historically.
The bottom line, though, is I vote because I have to vote. It would be unthinkable of me not to vote (except the first time I could vote because I was out of the country and hadn’t thought about it ahead of time).
ETA: And that’s the short version!
Citizen Alan
@Calming Influence:
I’m just going to cut and paste this because Calming Influence is apparently my spiritual twin. I vote because not voting is, to me, unAmerican, and voting in complete ignorance or based on impulse and propaganda is just as bad.
Bubba Dave
I vote because the alternative is fleeing the wreckage of the United States and I’m not sure what my chances are of getting a work visa in Australia. (Canada, I love you guys but that’s way too freaking cold.)
KDP
I’m voting because if I don’t participate, I am part of the problem.
I’m voting because it is my right and my responsibility to participate in civic society.
My vote counts and even if the outcome is not what I want at least I know I did my part.
Also, too.
Sasha
The reason I’m voting?
Can’t help it — has to be done.
Graeme
PROP 19 PROP 19 PROP 19 PROP 19 PROP 19 PROP 19 PROP 19 PROP 19
Kerry Reid
Reposting from what I put on my FB page a few days ago (I voted by mail earlier this week):
ThatLeftTurnInABQ
I vote so I can without irony spend the next 2 years shamelessly using the line “How did you get to be King, eh? I didn’t vote for you” at every possible opportunity.
That, and what all the smart and beautiful people already said upthread.
eemom
Reposting what I just wrote over on Kay’s post:
ABL, if you’re reading this please do a post on Jane Hamsher’s latest sewage today blaming the anticipated Dem losses on HCR. Pretty please.
I would pay serious money to see you take on that insufferable twat. She’s already got her lackeys trolling this blog.
Neldob
I vote because my friends the poll workers used to say “here comes the Democrat!” and I was glad there was at least one.
Eric Shaw
The big elephant in the room that is bringing me to vote is that once again, a small (but just big enough to bring about a ballot initiative) contingent of the population in my home state is pushing an amendment that is a not very subtle back door ban of abortion and many forms of birth control. This isn’t the first time this has been on the ballot, sadly it won’t likely be the last. I wonder sometimes why they don’t give up, but then again I waver towards being grateful because I imagine it to be a powerful motivating force for bringing the more progressive side to the voting booth. I could be wrong in my imagining of course, but I like my fantasy.
Ellen K
Uh, guys? It isn’t just about the United States. There are plenty of us around the world who are holding our breath. As one neighbor said to me, if the States can’t do this, we are all the poorer. They’ve been our shining example for so long; this is devastating to the rest of the world.
Angry Black Lady
eemom-
I can’t. For my own sanity, I can’t go to FDL today. This weekend is about restoring sanity. She and sanity don’t belong in the same sentence. I have taken her on over at ABLC. Just search for her name or Firedoglake.
In other news, I’m going to stab this fucking guy next to me if he doesn’t stop hogging the goddamn armrest!!
Angry Black Lady
@asiangrrlMN: It’s an amazing video, isn’t it?
Felonious Wench
I vote first as an American, but second for all the women around the world who cannot.
cckids
Like so many of you, I vote because how can you not? I want bitching rights, too. Because how can I sit back & give Sharron F**ing Angle the chance to be a Senator. Because I have kids, I care about them. Because I’m a woman, I’ve watched the film Iron Jawed Angels & I know what our sisters back then went through so I can vote.
I have teenagers. One will be 18 in 3 weeks, and he feels there should be some sort of clause in the voting act to let him vote, since he’s thisclose to being old enough & he cares so much more than many older people. Also he’s better informed than ANY teabagger out there.
My daughter just turned 16. She’s thrilled that she’ll get to vote for Obama in the 1st election she votes in. (2012) She researched the voting laws because, in 2012, she’ll be 18 by election day, but still 17 when registration closes. (yes, she can still register).
F**k the enthusiasm gap. And double f**k the idea that teens & 20-somethings don’t care & aren’t engaged. Any that aren’t, look to their parents. Most of them care deeply.
Karen
I’m voting because otherwise they win.
Who are they?
The right wing/neo-con/John Birch/ Teaparty/GOP.
But it also includes PUMA. Big time.
I can’t let them win.