Choosing the Wrong Side of History
Well, I made a last-minute change in my voting plan on Tuesday morning, and after three presidential elections I've been eligible to vote in, this registered Republican still has yet to vote on the Republican line.
I voted on the Independence Party line instead. I chose to support the man John McCain, not the party that nominated him (and the party that pretty much made it impossible for him to win).
As the night went on, though, I realized that this needed to happen.
I've been thinking about some of the things that I've seen...friends on Facebook who put up statuses saying "FUCK FUCK FUCK this country" when the polls were closer, fraternity brothers who sent out maps after the 2004 election that were divided into "The United States of Canada" and "Jesusland"...as much as I may disagree with those sentiments on principle, the fact of the matter is that if McCain had won, there would only be more of them, let alone outrage over (potentially overstated) racism, and overall, it would have put our country in a very bad place emotionally, for reasons that really aren't John McCain's fault. How better to start on the road to putting things right than under the man who rose to prominence by declaring that there is not a red America and a blue America, particularly as opposed to a certain vice presidential candidate's talk about which parts of the country are more patriotic/pro-American/whatever than the others. Of course, thinking back on the "United States of Canada," "Jesusland" and "FUCK FUCK FUCK this country," maybe there was some truth to it, but that was never Obama, and he should be an important influence on people who are given to that sort of garbage.
As I watched the concession - and I was very proud of McCain during his concession - and Obama's acceptance, I was absolutely certain that the right man had won, and that we as a country needed to do something great after the last eight years, and you don't need to have voted for Obama to see and applaud the greatness of the moment.
All of that said, am I sorry to have voted for McCain? Well, it always sucks not to be invited to a party, which is kind of how it felt watching the celebrations. In the end, though, as someone who beleives in civil, responsible differences of opinion, and the ability to work across party lines, there's no reason for me to regret my vote. Besides, voting in a foregone conclusion state like New York, I don't have to vote for the lesser of two evils, and can make a statement with my vote. The statement I've made is that John McCain is a step in the right direction for the Republican Party.
My only real regret is that I couldn't cast this vote eight years ago, because I remain convinced that both the country and the Republican Party would be in a much better place right now had McCain gotten the nomination in 2000.
But that's all behind us now. What matters is what's in front of us, and even if I voted differently, what's in front of us now looks better than it might have otherwise.
p.s. As an aside, I don't know too many other McCain voters who will get pissed about this, but WTF on Prop 8 passing in California. Boooooooooooooooo! Of course, I think the government should recognize both same- and opposite-sex partnerships as civil unions and leave the question of whether it's marriage or not to be decided between the people, their faith community (if they have one), and G-d.
I voted on the Independence Party line instead. I chose to support the man John McCain, not the party that nominated him (and the party that pretty much made it impossible for him to win).
As the night went on, though, I realized that this needed to happen.
I've been thinking about some of the things that I've seen...friends on Facebook who put up statuses saying "FUCK FUCK FUCK this country" when the polls were closer, fraternity brothers who sent out maps after the 2004 election that were divided into "The United States of Canada" and "Jesusland"...as much as I may disagree with those sentiments on principle, the fact of the matter is that if McCain had won, there would only be more of them, let alone outrage over (potentially overstated) racism, and overall, it would have put our country in a very bad place emotionally, for reasons that really aren't John McCain's fault. How better to start on the road to putting things right than under the man who rose to prominence by declaring that there is not a red America and a blue America, particularly as opposed to a certain vice presidential candidate's talk about which parts of the country are more patriotic/pro-American/whatever than the others. Of course, thinking back on the "United States of Canada," "Jesusland" and "FUCK FUCK FUCK this country," maybe there was some truth to it, but that was never Obama, and he should be an important influence on people who are given to that sort of garbage.
As I watched the concession - and I was very proud of McCain during his concession - and Obama's acceptance, I was absolutely certain that the right man had won, and that we as a country needed to do something great after the last eight years, and you don't need to have voted for Obama to see and applaud the greatness of the moment.
All of that said, am I sorry to have voted for McCain? Well, it always sucks not to be invited to a party, which is kind of how it felt watching the celebrations. In the end, though, as someone who beleives in civil, responsible differences of opinion, and the ability to work across party lines, there's no reason for me to regret my vote. Besides, voting in a foregone conclusion state like New York, I don't have to vote for the lesser of two evils, and can make a statement with my vote. The statement I've made is that John McCain is a step in the right direction for the Republican Party.
My only real regret is that I couldn't cast this vote eight years ago, because I remain convinced that both the country and the Republican Party would be in a much better place right now had McCain gotten the nomination in 2000.
But that's all behind us now. What matters is what's in front of us, and even if I voted differently, what's in front of us now looks better than it might have otherwise.
p.s. As an aside, I don't know too many other McCain voters who will get pissed about this, but WTF on Prop 8 passing in California. Boooooooooooooooo! Of course, I think the government should recognize both same- and opposite-sex partnerships as civil unions and leave the question of whether it's marriage or not to be decided between the people, their faith community (if they have one), and G-d.