(no subject)

[neadods]

Once again, The New Adventures of Queen Vic nails it with a truth-in-advertising ballot. Bipartisan. Bookmark this one, because it's going to work for any election.


*glances at clock* This time tomorrow, I'm going to be walking to the poll.

Comments

[spiralsheep.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the cartoon link, hee!

[ponygirl72.livejournal.com]

I think I'm probably becoming something of a broken record when it comes to talking about politics on LJ, but I feel compelled to point out yet again that there are more than two choices for President on the ballot. And for the Senate, and for the House of Representatives, and for the governorship, etc, etc, etc.

Don't like the choice between Clinton and Dole, Bush and Gore, Bush and Kerry, McCain and Obama? Vote for someone else; someone that you *do* like.

Or, y'know, vote for the major party stooge-of-the-month, and then spend the next four years being shocked and outraged when there's been no significant movement on health care/abortion/gay marriage/your social issue of choice, the country is still running at a staggering deficit, and Iraq is still dragging on with no end in sight.

Because, of course, 98% of the American voting public (who vote for major party candidates) can't be wrong, can they? ::eyeroll::

The cartoon would be funny if ballots really looked like that. They don't. I double checked mine, just to make sure that I didn't hallucinate it, and-- yup-- it still has candidates with whom I agree on the majority of the issues.

“The very definition of insanity is to keep doing the same thing over and over again, expecting different results.” - Philip Mangano

[neadods.livejournal.com]

I *am* voting for candidates who are in line with my priorities, who stand a good chance of winning, and who have a track record of actually ramming bills that are important to me through Congress, and who work for a party that has in the past accomplished great things for this country.

I am, in fact, for the first time in my life voting *for* someone instead of against a worse option.

And, obviously, I still think the cartoon is hilarious.

[ponygirl72.livejournal.com]

I'm sure that 98% of all voters, and virtually all non-voters find it funny. For the other 2%, it's a big old hot-button issue which, in my case, actually has the power to make me post a cranky LJ post which intellectually, I know will probably serve to irritate, and has only a minuscule chance of being seen by someone who might be educated by it.

Aargh. ::headdesk::

It's just very frustrating when even popular culture seems set on perpetuating the myth of the two party system. Tomorrow, 25% of registered voters won't go to the polls. (And that's considered a good number!) Of those, there's a certain percentage that honestly doesn't care or see voting as important. Fine. But there's also a percentage who are completely underwhelmed by both McCain and Obama. And because they are not particularly active in politics, as far as they know, if they were to go to the polls, the ballot they'd receive would have two candidates listed... McCain and Obama. So why bother?

I've had this conversation maybe twenty times in the past couple of months. Compared to that, how many people saw this cartoon? The presidential slot says "More of the same" and "slightly less of the same". If it had said "More of the same", "slightly less of the same", and "some crazy guy no one's heard of", then I keep my fat gob shut, and maybe even crack a smile. Because that's an accurate assessment.

This just seems like one more smack in the face to anyone trying to educate people about election choices. Yeah, yeah, I know. There's-- what? Like, ten of us in the country? Eleven? And you were just lucky enough to have one on your flist.

Okay. I'll shut up, now.

[neadods.livejournal.com]

which intellectually, I know will probably serve to irritate

Well... yeah. But then I'm a pinko bleeding heart classic New Deal Democrat, so for obvious reasons I'm particularly excited about this election, particularly knowing that in the next town over the polling place is a New Deal-built community center. That there are other parties that haven't gotten any attention, I certainly see the frustration; it's that one of the two parties du jour (as they change through history) can't do anything that whacked my hot button in return.

If it had said "More of the same", "slightly less of the same", and "some crazy guy no one's heard of", then I keep my fat gob shut

Or perhaps that bit from Governor - "Intelligent guy you've never heard of because he can't afford TV time."

[ponygirl72.livejournal.com]

it's that one of the two parties du jour (as they change through history) can't do anything that whacked my hot button in return.

Yeah. Sorry. That seems to be the point of disconnect in the discussion of third party politics, and I blew through it on the assumption that the cartoon in question would only appeal to someone who was disenchanted with the major-party ballot choices. I, um, tend to get a bit literal-minded about stuff, sometimes.

Obama seems to have fired the American consciousness in a way that no Democratic candidate has done since Kennedy, and no Republican since Reagan. I'm happy for the people who have, in him, someone to believe in.

The third party supporters, by their very nature, feel disenfranchised by the main party platforms. This year, they've fallen very neatly into the three main categories.

1) The Democrats are not far enough to the left! Vote for Ralph Nader!

2) The Republicans are not far enough to the right! Vote for the Constitution Party!

3) The Democrats have got the right end of the stick on social issues, but their stated economic goals scare me to death! The Republicans claim to have the right end of the stick on economic issues (until they get into office and spend like drunken sailors), but their stated social goals scare me to death! Vote Libertarian!

All we need now is a party for those who want economic socialism and repressive social controls (shudder), and we've got it covered. :-/

The goal of any third party is to spoil the election for the major party candidate on one side or the other, until the major party says "Crap! We'd better start pandering to those pesky Greens if we want to win anything!".

The goal of the major parties is to exclude the fringe parties from any and all public debates (lest the public get exposure to their ideas and change the direction of public discourse from its carefully-cultivated path), and to perpetuate the idea that voting for a third party is a wasted vote, because the candidate will not win.

It, um, seems to be working pretty well, actually.

Ah, well.

Anyway, I'm off to vote for an intelligent guy you've never heard of because he can't afford TV time. ;-) I wish your candidate all the best during his term in office, and I hope he proves me wrong on every single, solitary thing I've ever said about major party candidates. And I do apologize for the tone of my original post. Apparently, the feeling of banging my head against the brick wall of the American voting public is getting to me even more than I realized, but that's still no excuse for being snotty.

"Help! Help! I'm being repressed! Did you see 'im repressing me?" -Dennis the Peasant, Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)

[neadods.livejournal.com]

And I do apologize for the tone of my original post. Apparently, the feeling of banging my head against the brick wall of the American voting public is getting to me even more than I realized, but that's still no excuse for being snotty.

De nada.

And who knows? Someday a third party candidate will win and shock us all. I think the country is pretty ripe for another party to break through to the top; it's happened before and the Republicans are about ripped in half anyway between the classics and the neocons.

[ponygirl72.livejournal.com]

One can only hope.