Monday, October 04, 2010

Elections!

H. L. Mencken described them as "...a sort of advance auction of stolen goods." He was right; but we do get a chance to throw out one batch of crooks and replace them with another group, many of whom will not yet possess much skill at graft, cronyism and general malfeasance, hooray!

The Indianapolis/Marion County election offers up some fiiiine choices (Excel spreadsheet) along with nifty statewide ballot questions, like, ought a list of four Superior Court Justices be retained in office (oh hells no), and should our real-estate taxes have a Constitutional upper limit (oh hells yes).

I note with sadness Indiana's Libertarian party isn't in the Marion County Sheriff's race (clearly, they should run Tam) and with pleasure that Rebecca Sink-Burris is the Libertarian alternative in the Brad Ellsworth/Dan Coats Senatorial slimefest. Ms. Sink-Burris gets my vote; and if you are dithering between her and Dan "Carpetbagger" Coats, she's just as committed to rollin' back Obamacare, the difference being, Dan's "flexible." A-hem.

In the junior body, Andre Carson is being challenged by Dr. Marvin Scott (still my fave, and not just on the issues: he's willing to get out there and work the crowd! Also, the GOP is puzzled by him) and the LP's Dav Wilson. I'd vote for anyone who wasn't the Hon. the Mr. Carson -- given the chance to vote for a guy who shook my hand at a gun show, I am delighted to vote for Dr. Scott.

Indiana's Secretary of State, Todd Rokita, is term-limited out, sparing me a voting-booth dilemma: he's been a real champion against gerrymandering and for things like the "Who Are Your Elected Officials" website, but ballot status in Indiana is determined by votes for the Secretary of State, which means I always vote Libertarian for this office. Mike Wherry's the man, and I'll note his positions are very much in line with Mr. Rokita's actions.

Our State Senator sits this one out, but our State Representative, Cindy Noe, is up against...the LP's Joe Hauptmann. Guess the usual Other Guys decided to sit that one out! Ms. Noe has done a pretty fair job; she even sends out periodic surveys on the issues. On the other hand, she is an incumbent....

That's all I have time for this morning. The links in this post, especially the candidate list and the website that shows who's in office now, should be tools enough for interested voter. Me, come the day, I'll have a list in my pocket.

'Tis said, "If voting could change anything, it would be illegal," but it does change things, just never very much or very quickly; still, it's your best, easiest chance to put a thumb in the eye of the powers that be, and it costs nothing. So why not go screw up their nice, safe predictions a little?

4 comments:

Fuzzy Curmudgeon said...

While it's true that Marvin Scott was a Tea Party kind of guy before there was a Tea Party, unfortunately he has not shown any great ability to defeat his opponent in any electoral contest he has entered.

However, he's still got my vote. Anybody but Andre.

Shermlock Shomes said...

I agree with Nathan. Anybody but the excretable Andre Carson.

And I'll write in Tam for Sheriff! ;)

Tam said...

I registered to vote largely so that I could vote for Scott against Carson.

Andre delenda est.


(WV: "arangst". What happens when the Razorbacks lose.)

Bubblehead Les. said...

Wife and I voted Absentee here in Ohio already. I know the lady who runs the County Election Board, and she doesn't tolerate Shenanigans. The DemiCommie Secretary of State can't stand her, because She follows the letter of the Law, and doesn't give a Frak about the Secretary's "Rulings" and "Guidelines. Which means, unless there is a huge number cast for one candidate on Election Day that the total number of Absentees wouldn't count, the elections aren't certified until Every Vote is counted. Plus, since they put every Candidate, Issue and Levy on one sheet, they HAVE to take in the absentee votes if the various locales want their Tax Money. And I like the idea of not having to stand in the rain waiting to enter the school.

"Voting: the Last Step before you need the 2nd Amendment."