It's time!
Voting is coming up, and I just reviewed the sample ballot posted in the newspaper!
I love to vote. When I turned 18, what did I do? Did I drink? Go to an X-rated movie? Carouse in any way? No. I proudly registered to vote. That's what turning 18 meant to me. I would finally get to be a full fledged citizen of this greatest country on Earth!
Then I looked more closely at the same ballot for the political party that I prefer to vote in. There were four candidates running for U. S. Senate. Awesome! I love having choices.
There was no one listed for U.S. Congress. That was odd. Was this not the time for the primary for that race? I thought those federal elections were done at the same time. So I looked over at the other party. No, they had a candidate running for U.S. Representative. Only one, though.
Okay, so I don't see any candidates for state offices. Those must be done at a different time.
No, I'm wrong there too. The other party has State Representative and State Senator. Not only that, they have county races as well. Only one each race, however. Most likely the incumbent.
So you have one party that is offering nobody to vote for, and another that has incumbents running without opposition.
Remind again....why is it that I like to vote?
This is such a horrifyingly bad state of affairs. When we read about other countries and make fun of their rigged elections, where you only really have one viable choice, like the elections we used to make fun of in Soviet Russia - well, we no longer have any grounds to mock them, do we?
Georgia has wildly careened from one party Democratic rule to one party Republican rule. Dictatorial one party rule is bad whatever party label it wears. I can only hope that one day we finally achieve civil, competitive elections, with a broader range of ideas discussed.
The thing that bothers me the most about this is ...... somehow I seem like I'm the only person who is bothered by it. Most people I talk to about this just shrug their shoulders, like it is the most irrelevant thing on Earth. The lack of choice they have doesn't seem to bother them at all.
Meanwhile, I'll keeping voting in whatever races I can. I'll still research and investigate, and come up with the best decision I can, in light of my own political and personal values.
Yet, I can't help but feel like Charlie Brown, going out once more to try to kick the football that Lucy is holding. Maybe, just maybe, this time Lucy won't snatch the football away at the last minute. Maybe, just maybe. the next time I look at a sample ballot, I won't feel like I'm in the Gulag. Maybe the next time I'll have actual choices to make.
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