Junkie

I like following politics. It’s, in many ways, just like sports. There are favorites and underdogs. Old time heavyweights and young up-and-comers. Guys just trying to hang on to their jobs with one solid hit versus. The guy with all the talent in the world who blows it off for lack of focus. Blowhards who love the spotlight and get more of it than they deserve.

The election coming up in 19 days features almost all of these. Barack Obama, Alan Keyes, George Bush and John Kerry all fit these archetypes to some degree. I don’t think much will change, regardless who wins. I am hoping that we end up with a divided government like we had under the bulk of the Clinton years. Government seems to work best when it’s paralyzed. When the feds ignore you and me and worry about the small box that is Washington D.C., the rest of the country gets to work and we do very well.

If Bush wins, fine, even though I’m not a big fan of his. Should that happen, I hope that the Democrats can somehow manage to retake the Senate to make the division possible. If Kerry wins, I’m cool with that so long as the GOP keeps the House of Reps.

What I do know is this: Bush gave a speech the other day saying how amazing it was that there were actually elections in Afghanistan. What’s more amazing is that we have had that right in this country for 215 years (since the Constitution was ratified) and only about half of us exercise that right.

That’s sick.

Whatever you do on November 2nd, try to make sure you vote.

Politicians could make it easier to vote. They could declare a national holiday on Election Day. Hell, move Columbus Day to the first Tuesday in November and double our pleasure. They could get rid of voter registration and allow anyone with a social security number to vote. They don’t do this for their own petty reasons. Many politicians don’t want you to vote as they think that will favor their opponents. Screw that.

Piss off a politician this year. Vote.

And if you like to scoreboard watch, try some of these links. Fun stuff.
2.004k.com
LA Times EV Calculator
Wall Street Journal Poll Tracker
Election Projection.com
Electoral-vote.com
Race2004.net