Maybe futile, maybe not

kw: politics, voting

I usually go to work by 7:00 AM, but I was a bit later today. First, my wife and I strolled over to the local middle school and voted. We are registered Republicans in a nearly all Democratic district, so for the local races, we're unlikely to see our choices win. But for the state races, it may be another story.

I am no doctrinaire Republican, and these few years in particular, I am quite at odds with the party establishment. The prior election cycle seemed as though they had set out to purposely sabotage themselves. Anyway, I frequently split my vote, voting for the person and for qualifications over affiliation.

Today there was none of that for me. I voted straight ticket, except for one office having no "R" candidate. There, I voted for the Libertarian. I almost made one exception: While I seldom vote for an incumbent unless I really, really like how he or she is doing, and the Republican incumbent in one office is quite lackluster, the Democrat opposing him is a total groaner, and was easy to vote against.

Some might say that for me to vote is an exercise in futility. My candidates may all lose, but at least they won't lose by a total landslide. The closer the final tally is, the less likely a winner is to think they have a "mandate", whatever that means these days. The arising of the "tea party" movement shows that the supposed mandate of 2008 was nothing of the sort. While the most likely outcome of the current election is a divided Congress in which nothing gets done, that'll sure beat the past two years! You, there: Get out there and vote!