Sunday, October 21, 2012

I don't care about the final debate: I've already voted!

So, the final debate is coming up. We will find out which of the two Obamas will show up for this one, and whether this will be the death of the salesman that the Republican has been. 

In either case, it doesn't matter to me at all.  In fact, my hopes and dreams can be quite a Halloween scare for the ideologues!

Even on practical terms, the debate won't make a difference for me because, well, I have already voted.

Yay!

Of course, I took the photograph of the top half of one side of the ballot before I marked my preferences.  It is a secret ballot, and I ain't going to show you how I voted :)

It has been a wonderful experience here in Oregon, where we get to vote by mail.

I have known nothing but vote-by-mail in my ten-plus years of life in Oregon.  It is absolutely cool, similar to the take-home exams I give students.  I get to refer to the hefty voter's guide, with the candidates' statements and explanations of the Measures.

I can take my own time, and vote with my pajamas on (or not?  For the record, I was fully clothed; remember, I am way too square!)

The NY Times highlights this Oregon innovation in this dialogue.   A fellow-Oregonian writes there:
I’m worrying, “If you talk about something good, you’re going to jinx it.”
...
It works, and it works well. So ssshhhhh: You might jinx it.
Yes, it works so well that I am surprised that the political hyenas have not done anything to screw this up.  Yet.

So, hey, you swingers, good luck to you if somehow you have managed to remain undecided even until now.  S(h)it through the debate tomorrow.

1 comment:

Ramesh said...

Great. You have discharged your duties as a citizen. Never knew that there were so many names on the ballott. I knew of Gary Jonhnson, but what are the other three doing there.

Here's a thought, stemming from a tactic often done in Indian elections. Make 74 other candidates stand. In the long ballott paper, voters won't find the names of the serious candidates and this can have much mayhem. Variations of the theme are to find candidates whose names are such that in alphabetical order they will all come between your candidate and the opponent, thus screwing up your opponent's chances. We musat have some creative fun ....