After all of the negative campaign advertisements bombarding the TV and carpet-bombing my phone and mailbox, it’s finally our turn to head off to the voting booth and put an end to this campaign, one way or another.
Frankly, it can’t come quickly enough for me.
I’m so over all of the negativity where the extremists on both ends of the political spectrum can’t be bothered to accept that people who do not agree completely with their politcal talking points are traitors who aren’t deserving of the least amount of human decency.
Even having a reasonable conversation where listening to the other person’s point of view is considered so old fashioned that the only time you see it is when you’re watching “Mr Smith Goes to Washington” with Jimmy Stewart.
That’s why it was so refreshing passing the time waiting for my precinct to open to be able to have just such a reasonable conversation whilst waiting.
These are the things that help restore my faith that whilst the extremists may well be *LOUDER*, they will eventually have the microphone taken away from them because they are not the ones who will come up with the solutions to the very real problems our country faces in these dark times.
I have no problem accepting that not everyone will share my views on political matters. Our life experiences help shape those opinions and sometimes someone who has experienced something different than I have may well have information or perspective I do not. When someone makes a decision on which candidate they choose to support from their heart based on what is best for them and their family, I don’t have a problem with that.
What is most important is that we need to take a stand and resist those dark forces who wish to pervert the course of free and fair elections to illegitimately gain political power and destroy history’s longest-lived representative democracy. Massive amounts of money are bankrolling candidates who dance to their master’s tune and candidates are standing for elections via the very electoral process they wish to then subvert to frustrate the expressed will of the people.
I’ve never had a problem being on the losing end of an election cycle. In fact, it used to be that if I voted for a candidate, that was usually the kiss of death for their candidacy.
What I do have a problem with is the hyper-partisan gerrymandering that has seen North Carolina dragged into the Supreme Court multiple times in the last couple of decades because our politicians in the General Assembly have the power to draw the districts to face the voters they wish rather than contesting the election with the voters who actually represent the political makeup of the district. We need an independent non-partisan districting commission in the worst possible way but there’s no way that will be allowed anytime soon. What incentive does the General Assembly have when it would result in many incumbents who are unelectable otherwise to face the sack from the voters?
What I can do is vote my conscience as best I can and that’s why I’m waiting in front of the precinct at o’dark thirty having a conversation with a wonderful gentleman who has done wonders to restore my faith that there are others out there who are equally as desperate for reasoned political discourse.
Once the doors opened at 0630, welcome to the East Raleigh Voting Grand Prix…
- DAVID CROFT: “It’s lights out here in East Raleigh and the voters are on the main straight heading to the first chicane! It’s a good reaction off the line for everyone with none of the argy-bargy one can see at a standing start.’
- MARTIN BRUNDLE: “The voters are coming up to the first opportunity for overtaking where the field is heading toward the table where the voter scrutineering occurs.”
- DAVID CROFT: “And we’ve had the first overtake from P5 to P3 thanks to the voter having a last name at the ass-end of the English alphabet! What a brilliant move to have a name in the W’s!”
- MARTIN BRUNDLE: “They’ve made the left-handed turn and are now aiming for the table where the voter paper gets traded for the ballot paper and he’s now up to P2 with another overtake!”
- DAVID CROFT: “There’s a bit of a concertina effect at the ballot table and the voter is still in P2 losing a bit of time at the table but now they’re clear and on the way to the ballot booths!”
- MARTIN BRUNDLE: “This is where preparation and strategy can really pay off and make up time lost at the ballot table.”
- DAVID CROFT: “And that’s exactly what’s happened! Even though the voter was P2 to the tables, a very quick run through the ballot marking the ballot using the sample ballot filled out the night before and then giving the engine the full beans down the final straight heading toward the tabulator machine has made all of the difference at the chequered flag!”
- TEAM RADIO: “Get in there! P1! First ballot in the precinct in the machine!!!!”
In all of the years I’ve been voting, I’ve never been lower than #22 into the machine! It was surreal seeing the ballot counter at zero right before I fed my ballot paper to it!
Nicholas saw me heading out to haul buns to the Fish Water Purveyor as he was in the queue to check in for his voter paper and ended up in P11 before he headed off to class at Wake Tech.
We’ll see how much of a kiss of death my vote ends up being later tonight!