I'm a citizen of Canada, so obviously I won't be voting in these elections. If I could vote, though, I would drag myself to the voting booth and vote for the Democrats with the patient resignation of somebody who is voting for the lesser of two huge evils. The actual differences between the Republicans and the Democrats are, at best, cosmetic at this point. If it weren't for the imminent threat of the completely insane Tea Partiers usurping the Congress (they don't seem to have much chance in the Senate, I believe), I don't think anybody should care about these elections at all.
Whenever elections approach, I always keep reminding my students not to forget to vote. (I never suggest who they should vote for, in case you are wondering.) On the day of the elections, I jokingly tell the students that they can't stay in class unless they have voted or have made specific plans to go to the voting booths. This time, though, I can't muster the energy to care or to exhort my students to do so. Both political parties are lying cozily in the pockets of the same bunch of lobbyists. At this point, even my youngest students have realized this.
If anybody has any suggestions on why I (and everybody else) should be more enthusiastic about these elections, feel free to share your point of view.
5 comments:
Our classes are cancelled on election day, and University offices are closed. I am pretty excited about our Senate race in Delaware; I think Chris Coons is an honest man, and I am glad he has a good chance of becoming a Senator. I am also inclined to believe that local issues may excite people more than national issues this year. Maybe they always do in "midterm" elections.
I like Coons too. I saw an interview with him on television and he sounds very well-prepared and knowledgeable on the important issues. I hope he wins! Especially, seeing who he is running against.
You quite correct that there is not a dime’s worth of difference between the Democrats and Republicans in that both parties are pretty much under the thumb of Wall Street and the National Security Establishment. Neither Party appears capable of intelligent leadership and both are devoid of original thinking. So why vote?
Well I am voting because of local elections. Who you elect to county and state offices can actually affect your life directly. So the incentive to vote is to make sure local officials are folks I can work with and who share my beliefs in conservation and education.
Clarissa:
Too true about both parties being bought up by corporate lobbyists. I continue to vote (thank goodness Oregon has a vote by mail statute) because the illusion of for, by and of the people continues to rear its head. At the very least we may be able to influence local politics. One thing I love about Oregon is its fierce independence. I am, however, training for a new career that may let me emigrate to Canada if the 2010/2012 elections present us with a majority of politicians such as Sarah Palin. Emigration is not something I would have considered before now. If a majority of people in the U.S. believe the Tea Party and its ilk are the new messiahs, so be it. Canadian policies suit me much better.
Cheers
This is reminding me of a man I knew in Poland. He had been a Communist since the 1930's, and although the Russians had killed a lot of the "indigenous" Communists for fear they were in fact spies, he survived and was a retired ambassador when I knew him in the latter half of the 1970's.
He told me once that The U. S. did lots of stupid things, but that our democratic process enabled us to correct course eventually, and that he believed that in the long run our system was better than others at correcting mistakes for this reason. I hope he was right.
My friend had become strongly anti-Communist as he got older.
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