Being fiercely independent as I am, I don't get to vote for candidates in the primaries (and this won't be a pro open primary post...leave that for another day) and so I'm reliant on registered Republicans and Democrats to make smart choices. Thankfully my home state of Maine is notoriously independent and moderate, which rarely results in far left or right field nominees. This blog is an open forum to discuss your choice, if you made one, and a plea for continued moderation.
I know there's a lot of angry sentiment on both sides, which nationally is having the result of some extreme nominees, nominees who cannot and will not win, nor should they. They don't represent anything close to a majority of voters' beliefs. But what can happen when parties are polarized and extreme blocks of each party push through candidates based on anger and over-reaction instead of reason is that there is the possibility of an open election between two "worthless" choices.
So I ask my fellow Mainers to reflect on what kind of man or woman you want at the helm of state government. New and fresh ideas are one thing but sacrificing sound judgment and a steady hand to get them is not the way to go. As an independent, I'd like nothing more than having a difficult decision between two highly-qualified, sensible candidates come November, two candidates that reflect the State of Maine as a whole and who have that necessary commodity of being able to govern.
I encourage you to let us know who you voted for and why, and to also weigh in on the bond issues.
UPDATE: Again, since I'm an independent, I couldn't vote for candidates. I would very much like to hear who you voted for, and why if you don't mind but not necessary. Speaking of being independent, did you know that in Maine you can no longer be a "registered independent?" You can register for one of the independent parties but that's not being truly independent. So I'm officially listed as undeclared, like I can't make up my friggin' mind or something. I did make a minor stink about it but I truly feel it's not right that I can't declare myself an independent.
I voted for most but not all of the bond issues. I DO believe in priming the pump, as it were; but it was a difficult decision, not wanting to keep adding to the tax burden. But if we're not working, what good are low taxes? I very much respect the other side of this argument and it has some merit in my mind but overall, especially given the nature of these particular ballot issues, I decided to vote with my wallet.
4 comments:
I'm going to speak for my (superficial) generation and say that I care about charisma. It's something that's been missing since ol' Angus. I would like a Governor who can convince our people to push the boundaries, take risks, and return Maine to our roots, "Dirigo". We should be leading on Gay Marriage, Wind Power, School Lunches, etc... But these issues get lost in the morass because we don't have a compelling leader to push the voters.
I'm not sure who the Democrat is who can accomplish this. I'm going to give the MPBN debates a listen today before voting: http://www.mpbn.net/News/YourVote2010/tabid/1134/Default.aspx.
Zeb I'm confused, why does being independent mean you couldn't vote for any of the candidates? Doesn't being independent mean that you vote for someone based on the issues they stand on, rather than the fact they belong to a particular party?
For the primaries the Repubs vote to nominate their person, ditto the Dems vote for theirs and then we'll all be able to vote for whomever we want come the general election this fall. But to nominate a party's candidate, only registered members of that party can vote.
That's why some, myself included, have been pushing for years for open primaries. It is forecast that the winner tonight for the Repubs could get as few as 18k votes
Ah, okay, that makes sense. Primaries! It's been so long since I've been in the States, I've forgotten the system :)
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