SNAVE... HOW COULD YOU!!!
I love the state of Oregon, and I don't want to see it trashed by power-hungry right-wing fundamentalist politicians. Oregon is a state which has "closed primary elections", meaning that if you are going to vote in a primary you can only vote for people running from the party with which you are registered. So, a few years back, I changed my registration from Democrat to Republican so I could vote against a particularly obnoxious GOP candidate.
The race was for a state legislative position. One candidate was a former beauty queen who married into a fairly wealthy family, got elected into state government, and proceeded to help grease a land deal for a "mega-church" she attended, who brayed on and on about "moral values", school vouchers, how bad our government is, etc. The other candidate was a more traditional conservative who was a friend to public education. He looked sort of like Ichabod Crane, and he had a rather low-key, country/folksy way about him. I felt I needed to help protect my state from the former candidate and show my support for the latter, so I became a Republican in order to give him my vote. Although I was a Democrat, I liked this candidate./ He lost, but not by much... and I believe I did my part for good. I changed my registration back to Democrat after my wife told me she wouldn't tolerate living with a Republican. Let's say I heeded her advice, pronto.
This time, through love for the county in which I live (Union County), I will be changing my registration once more to Republican, so I can vote in the upcoming primary elections this spring. There are two GOP candidates for the office of county commissioner. One is a more traditional conservative who has served nicely as the county clerk for years. The other is a guy who is very likeable but who represents the new breed of conservative; he is a strong Bush supporter, and from what I can tell, his party comes first in many matters. The county clerk has come under fire lately by a local "watchdog" group over her travel expenses, which do not appear to be exhorbitant or misused by any account. WHAT A COINCIDENCE this "issue" has come up at the SAME TIME the incumbent is up for re-election against a person with such a positive countywide reputation that she just might get enough votes to BEAT HIM. So, in order to help save my county from the "new conservative" approach of the incumbent, I will briefly become a Republican in order to throw my support behind the more traditional of the two. I am aware I will be doing this at the expense of the local Democratic party, because I know they need their party's votes in order to select their most electable candidate.
Then again, it's pretty tough for any Democrat to get elected around here nowadays, regardless of what office they're running for. If I chose to run for city sanitation engineer, the "watchdogs" would probably come up with some false allegations, or my opponent would suggest that because I was a Democrat my real agenda was one of hate for my community and that I would be likely to allow Al-Qaida to have access to the city's sewers.
So don't worry, I will only be a Republican for a few weeks. I will let you know when it happens. I will fill you in on a daily basis as to what it is like to be a Republican, what kind of symptoms I start to develop, the sudden changes in attitude I encounter. It will be a dangerous move on my part, but as long as I have Kit around to remind me she won't live with a Republican in our house, I shouldn't end up having to be deprogrammed.
The race was for a state legislative position. One candidate was a former beauty queen who married into a fairly wealthy family, got elected into state government, and proceeded to help grease a land deal for a "mega-church" she attended, who brayed on and on about "moral values", school vouchers, how bad our government is, etc. The other candidate was a more traditional conservative who was a friend to public education. He looked sort of like Ichabod Crane, and he had a rather low-key, country/folksy way about him. I felt I needed to help protect my state from the former candidate and show my support for the latter, so I became a Republican in order to give him my vote. Although I was a Democrat, I liked this candidate./ He lost, but not by much... and I believe I did my part for good. I changed my registration back to Democrat after my wife told me she wouldn't tolerate living with a Republican. Let's say I heeded her advice, pronto.
This time, through love for the county in which I live (Union County), I will be changing my registration once more to Republican, so I can vote in the upcoming primary elections this spring. There are two GOP candidates for the office of county commissioner. One is a more traditional conservative who has served nicely as the county clerk for years. The other is a guy who is very likeable but who represents the new breed of conservative; he is a strong Bush supporter, and from what I can tell, his party comes first in many matters. The county clerk has come under fire lately by a local "watchdog" group over her travel expenses, which do not appear to be exhorbitant or misused by any account. WHAT A COINCIDENCE this "issue" has come up at the SAME TIME the incumbent is up for re-election against a person with such a positive countywide reputation that she just might get enough votes to BEAT HIM. So, in order to help save my county from the "new conservative" approach of the incumbent, I will briefly become a Republican in order to throw my support behind the more traditional of the two. I am aware I will be doing this at the expense of the local Democratic party, because I know they need their party's votes in order to select their most electable candidate.
Then again, it's pretty tough for any Democrat to get elected around here nowadays, regardless of what office they're running for. If I chose to run for city sanitation engineer, the "watchdogs" would probably come up with some false allegations, or my opponent would suggest that because I was a Democrat my real agenda was one of hate for my community and that I would be likely to allow Al-Qaida to have access to the city's sewers.
So don't worry, I will only be a Republican for a few weeks. I will let you know when it happens. I will fill you in on a daily basis as to what it is like to be a Republican, what kind of symptoms I start to develop, the sudden changes in attitude I encounter. It will be a dangerous move on my part, but as long as I have Kit around to remind me she won't live with a Republican in our house, I shouldn't end up having to be deprogrammed.
7 Comments:
Snave Evans, Double Agent.
California had an open primary for a brief period. In 2000 I voted for McCain as the Republican candidate. Gore already had the Dem. nomination sewn up, and I figured McCain would be preferable to Bush if the Republicans won.
To use British slang, bollocks to both major political parties. I don't have the words to express how deeply disgusted I am and have been for a while with the Democrats and the Republicans, or more specifically, their broken leadership.
Wow, Snave, I'm impressed that you have the stomach to do that.
While, like MC, I have disdain for both parties right now, I could never pretend to be a Republican...even for a week. Excellent work, my friend.
Well, we'll see how it goes. If I start having worse verbal diahrrea than usual, or if I have to start shaving my tongue or the palms of my hands, it might be time for the deprogramming.
Lizzy, Snave, as if being a die-hard Democrat is any better. The only difference is the symptoms. I choose instead to go with either cheerful disdain for both major parties, or agonized disdain for both major political parties with a healthy heaping of fear for the future, depending on my mood.
As for the primary I vote in, I vote in whatever primary has the greater number of offices on the ballot. I feel it makes for a more interesting contest, and since I live in a heavily Republican area, allows me to do my part to try to keep and elect more moderate people, but we all know how well that worked with my greatest bête noire, Roy "Ten Commandments Judge" Moore, and his chosen heir.
You pretended to be a Republican, my god did they get you to steal candy from a baby to prove your worth or get you to beat up an old lady. I guess they'll send you a dark robe and fangs in the mail!!!
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