(no subject)
so it is looking increasingly likely that next month i will vote in my first presidential primary. the reason i've never voted in one isn't because i'm not a registered party member, or that this is my first time voting at all, or that i've just been lazy and not done it in the past. no, it's because i'm still registered to vote in kentucky, which has one of the latest primary dates. it has really gotten me thinking about something that i've always believed, but never had much motivation to be passionate about, and that is the fact that we should have a single, national primary election. i'll be the first to admit it's a bit sad that this has become a bigger issue to me in the one year when i can vote, and not in the other years when i was disenfranchised etc., but that's how it is.
i get it that way back in the day we had covered wagons and the fucking telegraph and it wasn't practical for everyone to be voting on the same day. it allowed the candidates to campaign in more states, since they had no real way to reach everybody at once. that's not the case anymore. we have tv, the internet, newspapers, jet planes. the candidates declare their intent to run so far in advance that they have ample time to travel around the country and show their faces. in fact, those of us in later-voting states have the opportunity to see the results of other states, to hear myriad interpretations of what those results mean, to be told how our votes will affect those results.
as much as i may strive to choose between Obama and Clinton based solely on their qualifications and policies, it will be nearly impossible. like a juror in a high-profile case, my mind has been polluted by the media coverage. in addition to asking myself whose health care policy i prefer, or who i think would make a better leader, i have to try and fight the urge to ask whether Obama can win in the swing states and whether Clinton will alienate voters by staying in the race so long, or whatever. my decision should not be based on the results of primaries in other states, but there's really no way to ensure that those results won't in some way color my decision (even if i think i'm above that).
the thing is, everyone deserves to have their vote count, even in a primary election. spreading out and delaying the elections only keeps people in later states from being able to vote in many years, and confuses and obscures the options when they do get to vote. plus you know, way less ridiculous campaign spending and media overload. can we get a referendum on this somehow?
/rant
i get it that way back in the day we had covered wagons and the fucking telegraph and it wasn't practical for everyone to be voting on the same day. it allowed the candidates to campaign in more states, since they had no real way to reach everybody at once. that's not the case anymore. we have tv, the internet, newspapers, jet planes. the candidates declare their intent to run so far in advance that they have ample time to travel around the country and show their faces. in fact, those of us in later-voting states have the opportunity to see the results of other states, to hear myriad interpretations of what those results mean, to be told how our votes will affect those results.
as much as i may strive to choose between Obama and Clinton based solely on their qualifications and policies, it will be nearly impossible. like a juror in a high-profile case, my mind has been polluted by the media coverage. in addition to asking myself whose health care policy i prefer, or who i think would make a better leader, i have to try and fight the urge to ask whether Obama can win in the swing states and whether Clinton will alienate voters by staying in the race so long, or whatever. my decision should not be based on the results of primaries in other states, but there's really no way to ensure that those results won't in some way color my decision (even if i think i'm above that).
the thing is, everyone deserves to have their vote count, even in a primary election. spreading out and delaying the elections only keeps people in later states from being able to vote in many years, and confuses and obscures the options when they do get to vote. plus you know, way less ridiculous campaign spending and media overload. can we get a referendum on this somehow?
/rant