I Voted

Yep, it is too late to get me to change my mind. I will be out of town on election day so yesterday I went to town hall, picked up an absentee ballot and I voted. And I’ve never been so worried about my vote in my life. And mind you this was the 10th time I have voted in a presidential election.

It doesn’t matter who I voted for either. I’d be just as worried about it no matter which candidate I voted for. in fact I seriously considered not voting at all. And at the last minute I thought about voting for a third party candidate just so I could say “I didn’t vote for him” no matter who won. Neither candidate really gets me excited. Both candidates scare me in different ways. So I held my nose and picked one that I hope will be better than the other. Not a good way to feel.

And this went down the ballot. For Senate, for House. Well Governor was ok. Really local stuff like State Senate was ok – though I could still wish for better. State Rep was fine but I didn’t vote for as many as I could. I voted for the people I know something about.

Well we’ll see. During the next President’s watch the economy will get better or not. If it gets better they will likely get reelected. If it doesn’t get better they will likely serve only one term.  Even though it is not likely to be them that makes the difference. We’ll be out of Iraq or we will not. Again, despite the best of intentions I’m not all that sure that who is President will make that much of a difference.

The President’s job is largely about perceptions. And persuasion. When Teddy Roosevelt called the Presidency a “bully pulpit” he did not mean a place where one could “bully” people or force them. Rather he meant that is was a great platform to use to try to persuade people. “Bully” was a way he say “good”. A lot of people get the idiom wrong these days and miss interpret what he meant. But he was right. The power of persuasion is key in a president. We’ll see how the next president does with that. The last three we’ve had were not so good at it in my opinion.

In any case, my vote is cast and now it is wait and see what happens next. Don’t forget to vote.

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