Pre-Election Whinging: People Who Vote Stupidly.

Party lines get toted. I really have a problem with that. Push the Republican button, they're all good. Push the Democrat button, they're all good.

Not.

I don't like the party button for a simple reason-- it lets voters be out of touch with the people they are voting for. The offices you are voting for are not held by party, they are held by individuals. And there are exceptions to every rule. People around the country who pushed the Republican button in 2004 got a president who spends money uncontrolled. People in Pennsylvania who push the Democrat button this election will get a pro-life candidate. Those are both things that you would not associate with their respective parties. Let's not forget cross-listed candidates, in places where that can happen to one or more of those seeking an office. And I will add that you're a moron voting for the Democrat or Republican in races like school superintendent or dog catcher where political party has basically nothing to do with the job. You're even more of a moron if you push the party button and leave without realizing you've voted for that office. I could go on and on for a long time with more examples.

Some people walk into the voting booth and push the party button because they have evaluated the candidates. They know who they want to see in office. If all the desired choices are the same party, then the party button is being used wisely. If most of the candidates you choose are from one party then on many voting machines pushing the party button can save you time because you only need to press few things rather than many to get your choices set. If you're too stupid to know the offices and individuals seeking them then you probably shouldn't be voting.

I have never voted completely for one party (outside primaries, of course, and I've even then written in the other party's candidates once or twice). There is always something that makes me make a different choice somewhere. I tend Republican, but I've voted for a Democrat for a state high court, a state house seat, a federal congressional seat, a township council position, and so on. Tuesday I will be adding senator to that list. Why? Because it's the person, not the party, that matters. Maybe I take it too far, always pushing every candidate one-by-one rather than doing the Republican button time-saving trick. I just want to know who I am voting for and for which office. I don't trust that thing to actually let me make changes anyway.

Honestly, I'd like to see the party buttons go away entirely, so that everyone sees who they are voting for in which position. Perhaps we'd get a better government if we thought about what we are doign when we vote instead of acting as though only a Democrat can represent our precinct at 10 meetings a year or only a Republican can properly run the Sheriff's office. Okay, I doubt it, but it's nice to hope.

I'll save the idiocy of "issue voting" for another time, except to say that I've had to argue with some of my liberal friends to vote for Casey because Casey is pro-life. These are people with advanced degrees, folks, not "morons thumping Bibles" or whatever you want to say. Clearly "issue voting" is not a problem only with conservatives or the religious.

Have fun on Tuesday, and as my friend Mike says, "Vote Early, Vote Often!"