An expansion of my Primary thoughts...

[vulgarweed]

I VOTED.

ursuscelticus will recognize a reprise of some themes, clarified and expanded....




I requested a Democratic ballot, no shit.

I've spent at least a year on this, and when it comes down to it, I have to say, I went with the identity politics thing: the candidate I felt I could best relate to.

And that would be...the woman?

No. That would be the bi-ethnic, bi-national person who, like me, owes his existence to the liberal (in the best sense of the word) international college exchange programs of the 50s and 60s.

The one who can never have both parents' sides of the family in one place without multiple, expensive 12-hour intercontinental flights involved.

Who has one side of the family that's in the superpower with the multiple black-ops CIA fingers in pies all over the world, and the other side that has had to live through the bloody effects of these schemes. Who realizes that what Americans think is "cynicism" is still considered "naivete" by those whose relatives have been killed and never identified.

Whose racial identity varies by income level and time zone.

Who feel pathetic for only knowing one language, as in much of the world, knowing at least three is crucial for making a living.

Who feel even more pathetic visiting other countries and realizing though most Americans own more stuff, most other citizens, even the poor ones, can quote more great writers.

Who realize that America is like a teenager who thinks that our emotional mood swings ARE "reality." We HATE who we HATE and LOVE who we LOVE (not realizing that, in another 200 years if we live that long--a mere blink of the eye for many nations--everything will be different. For fuck's sake, it was only 30 years ago that WE propped up and armed Saddam Hussein ourselves as a bulwark against Iran, and only 25 that we armed the Wahabbist-miliant mujaheddin of Afghanistan against the Soviet Union--that may be "ancient history" to too many US voters, but it's like last week to most of the world.)

I'm a citizen of the world by Spirit, of America by chance. I'm sick of apologizing for the color of my passport. I'm sick of feeling I ought to be ashamed of coming from the nation of John Coltrane and Walt Whitman. I voted for the one I felt was the most like me. I voted for Barack Obama.

For the record, I don't trust either him or Hillary on LGBT issues, but I think they're trainable. And they're both pro-choice, my other deal-breaker issue [I've voted for a pro-choice R over an anti-choice D before and will again if I ever have to, which I hope I won't]. I have no faith in either to fix health care. But President is largely a symbolic office, honestly. And honestly, the only thing wrong with Obama symbolically for me is that he's male. I can forgive him for that. He can't help it. :D



Whew. It was a harder choice than you might think. But not as hard as it would've been if JE hadn't dropped out.

Comments

[quantum-witch.livejournal.com]

Amen, amen, and some more amen, even though it sounds a bit Judeo-Christian of me. I suppose that also shows who I voted for. Right now, the race between Obama and Clinton is so close I can't guess who'll get the nomination.

Terrified how many states Huckabee is getting though. Good gods, an analyst just mentioned the idea that Huckabee might drop out in order to offer himself as VP to McCain. The thought of that in the White House... Again, my bags are packing themselves.

This was the first time I've been involved in an exit poll as well. It was interesting that the Republicans, when asked what was more important, they were given the options of "Economy, War in Iraq, Terrorism, or Illegal Immigration", while Democrats got "Economy, War in Iraq, or Healthcare Issues". That's amazingly telling about their values. But both sides voted "Economy" as the biggest problem. Even more telling about the state of things.

[vulgarweed.livejournal.com]

Huckabee's a creepy Rapture-ready fuck (for all his surface-level 50s-sitcom affability) but his chances of actually winning the nomination are pretty much nil at this point.

That said, the Repubs have set themselves a choice between the ultimate oily slick-haired layoff-happy asshole boss (Romney) or the scary unhinged old vet who bursts into sentimental reminiscences about shooting "gooks" at family reunions (McCain).* Do you want either of them within a time zone of the nuclear football? Expect folks in the EU to discover a whole new nation full of willing mail-order-brides if that happens.

Best case scenario: our nominee is the First Black Kennedy and theirs is the Mumbly Old Grampa. Seriously, have you ever tried to stay awake through a McCain speech? I'm a hardcore coffee addict and it defeats me.


*I once had an uncle-by-marriage who did this. My aunt wisely ditched him, but my cousin is still traumatized. Asshole.

[catherinecookmn.livejournal.com]

Yup.

[catherinecookmn.livejournal.com]

The Huckabee vote was not so much FOR Huckabee as AGAINST McCain. They couldn't vote for a Mormon, and they wouldn't vote for McCain, so they went for the snake handler.

[erunyauve-e.livejournal.com]

For the record, I don't trust either him or Hillary on LGBT issues, but I think they're trainable.

I think we can get federal discrimination and hate-crime protection passed with either one in office. Neither one is going to give any support to gay marriage, but I really don't have a problem with that - not because I'm against it, but because it's a very narrow interest that isn't worth the political capital it would cost. Frankly, I think the religious right has brilliantly distracted the entire LGBT community with the marriage issue, which is why we've been going backwards since the mid-90s.

[vulgarweed.livejournal.com]

Well, I"m not going to try to tell the LGBT community what is and isn't a worthwhile cause for them--it's really all bound up with health insurance and inheritance and child-custody rights, which are not a distraction at all, they're vital to a lot of people's lives. (Marriage a "religious" issue? Tell that to my parents--militant atheists who were married almost 40 years ago by a judge in a courthouse and haven't set foot in a church then or since except for other people's weddings and funerals, when strictly socially obligated. No one would question their right to visit each other in the hospital, though.) Discrimination even on the very basic housing/employment factors is still legal in way too many states.

If you figure LGBT people are about 10% of the population, it's not much more of a "narrow" interest than African-American civil rights (13%), yet no one thinks that's "not worth the political capital." (Now, anyway. 40 years ago, of course, a lot of people DID think that. They were wrong.)

[erunyauve-e.livejournal.com]

Well, I"m not going to try to tell the LGBT community what is and isn't a worthwhile cause for them--it's really all bound up with health insurance and inheritance and child-custody rights, which are not a distraction at all, they're vital to a lot of people's lives.

I should probably clarify that I'm speaking as a lesbian, and it's a narrow issue to me and a majority of the community that is single (or wouldn't marry if given the chance). ENDA and hate crimes affect us all, and have far more support among voters. All we've managed to do by pushing the marriage issue is to write amendments into our state constitutions that will be very difficult to undo in the future. We've put the cart before the horse - you can't get health insurance for your partner if your company fires you because you're gay, and in 35 (last time I checked) states, it's still completely legal for a company to do that.

I also look at it like this...

[vulgarweed.livejournal.com]

At the time Obama himself was born (1961), he himself would have been legally "illegitimate" in many states (including my own home state, VA)--his own parents' marriage (black man, white woman) would not have been recognized. Many states at the time had laws against "miscegenation" (what a vile word).

His own parents, legally married in Hawai'i where they lived, could have been busted for "fornication" (or "sodomy" if they liked the oral thing, as we all do) in VA if, for some reason, they decided to vacation there.

Offensive? Ignorant? Dehumanizing? Superstitious? Hell yes.

Now, that law was struck down by the aptly named Loving v. Virginia Supreme Court case in 1967 (2 years before I was born, otherwise, GOD knows, I mean, Mom's not "black" but she's pretty damn brown). Were interracial couples a statistically-significant percentage of the population, electorically speaking, at the time? I have no idea. Was it worth the "political capital"? Well, for those couples it applies to, fuck yeah, even if there was only one! And for those who don't want other people's superstitious ruling their personal lives, whatever they may be--a vitally important decision! It's not about numbers, is it?

[very-improbable.livejournal.com]

Yes yes. Very well said.

Also: They're trainable on LGBT issues, and I'm inclined to think that Don't Ask Don't Tell will come to its long-overdue end in either a Clinton or an Obama administration.

My state doesn't vote today--we caucus on the 9th. It'll still be a real race when we do, it looks like, and that's damn exciting in a Nobody Ever Cares About Our Delegates State.

[thistle-verse.livejournal.com]

I agree, and when it comes right down to it, I feel that Obama would have the more sympathetic and open mind on LGBT issues. Because Clinton? Doesn't care if it might damage her chances at being president or her office should she get it. I think Obama would try, even if he couldn't get the votes.

But hey, that's basically just my feeling on it. I'll be listening closely.

[ithilwen.livejournal.com]

When you think about it, we Democrats are incredibly lucky: both the surviving major candidates for the nomination are bright, competent, and would do a decent job as president. No matter which one get the nod, I'll be voting 'for' someone instead of merely 'against' the Republican candidate which is a nice feeling!

(The scary thing is the realization that so many of our citizens apparently honestly believe Huckabee would make a great President. I didn't think it was possible to be both brain-dead and ambulatory, but I obviously was wrong!)