Super Tuesday

I voted in the Democratic primary today. On the internet.

Until a couple of weeks ago, I had never identified myself with a political party. Yes, I tend to vote heavily democratic, but I've never voted a straight party line in any election. I've voted all over the political spectrum. Well, not really all over the political spectrum; I tend to hover around the middle, with a generous tilt towards the left, as I suspect many do.

But I believe that the upcoming election is going to make or break our country, both at home and in the eyes of the world, in so many ways. It counts. A lot. And I feel very, very strongly that we need to get the Republicans out of the executive office, especially the potential nominees that are currently being fielded by the party. There's just too much at stake: the domestic economy is heading into the toilet, and threatening to take much of the world's with it; our rapidly deteriorating diplomatic relationships with other countries; increasing poverty and homeless levels; the sky-high record deficit that GWB will be leaving all of us with if he has his way; our rapidly eroding civil liberties; the need to remind our leaders that church and state are supposed to be separate things; the likelihood that the next President will be nominating a Supreme Court Justice or two, something that will affect our country's direction for many, many years to come; the lack of affordable, accessible healthcare for all, especially children; speaking of health care, the need to leave family planning decisions where it belongs, between a woman and her doctor and anyone else that she wants to include; stem cell research; the increasingly unfair gap between the 'haves' and the 'have nots' in our nation's schools; the quagmire that is Iraq and its reverberations; the serious, looming environmental issues that have to be addressed before it's too late; our eroding infrastructure due to lack of funding; our legislators' inability to stand up to the NRA and get real about our country's gun culture; the wiping from memory ex-presidential staffers who continue to feel sorry for themselves rather than the mess they helped create; and probably a whole bunch of other issues that I can't think of right now.

So, anyway, a couple of weeks ago I went online and I registered with a political party for the first time in my life. I registered with Democrats Abroad so I could vote in the primary election. I gave up my 'independence' to do this, because it meant that much to me to have a say at this stage.

True, expats around the world will only get 22 delegates to dole out at the convention, with 11 votes among them (each international delegate gets a one-half vote under the convention rules, apparently). It's not much, but it's something. And, every last vote really might count in this horse race.

So, like I said, I voted today. After many weeks of agonizing and wringing of hands, and watching candidate after candidate fall by the wayside, I finally decided to go with the candidate who, in many unsettling ways represents a roll of the dice to me due to his inexperience and the failure of the media to make him answer the hard questions for whatever reason. The candidate who still hasn't answered a lot of the hard questions to my satisfaction. And yet, the candidate who seems to be the most likeable. The candidate who appears to offer the country the most hope of coming together again. The candidate who appears to have the best chance of winning come November.

So this evening I rolled my dice and ticked the box next to his name and sent my vote off into the ether world.

I hope my bet pays off. For all of us.

And, as the primaries march on, I will reiterate my previous thoughts on what I expect in the way of decorum from the presidential hopefuls: Play.Nice.Dammit.

And thank you, Democrats Abroad, for giving me the opportunity to be heard from over here.