Primary Voting Time

[netmouse]

Last night thatguychuck went door-to-door with me to ask Democrats in my precinct to write me in for Precinct Delegate (Ward 5, Precinct 6). We split up the list, odds and evens, and campaigned from right after dinner (which chuck cooked while I organized the lists) to right after dark (Thank you, Chuck!). It was great to have a companion as upbeat and forward as he is to walk around with. I especially admired how outgoing he was to people we encountered on the street.

One such encounter sticks out in my mind this morning. As this fellow approached us I asked if he was voting in the Primary. He got a bit surly and declared as he passed us that he didn't vote at all. Chuck called after him, "You should vote, man, it makes change happen!" to which he responded, "That's a lie."

I believe this attitude is pervasive in our country, and I hope you will resist this kind of hopelessness and go out and participate today. Vote! It's not just a right, it's a responsibility.

A number of the people I spoke to were not so hopeless but were very concerned. Our president can't put a sentence together. Our children are not learning handwriting any more, or history, or how to build things and do science. Our country is facing a competitive international scene that is largely angry and disappointed with us. It is time for change.

There are many things that one can do to try to effect change. One of them is vote. I encourage you to vote in your local primary today (Updated to add: or whenever your primaries are, where you live).

Comments

[netmouse.livejournal.com]

It is exciting, yes. It's also frustrating because I continue to get the feeling that there is a great deal of frustration with the two major parties, and that a lot of people don't feel well served by either of them. This is mainly frustrating because the two parties have done so much to make the political system favor them in processes of decision-making as well as in the election process itself.

I have enjoyed meeting people and talking to them, tried not to take it personally when people don't want to be spoken to at all, and hope that eventually something will convince me that getting active in the Democratic party really is the right thing to do at this point in time. Tonight I'm going to a Ward 5 meeting for getting organized, and on Saturday I'll be going to a "unity breakfast" that's been organized by our congressman.