Voting for Change
I love voting, because it gives me the right to bitch. And because I can. I will never understand apathy in this situation; it is very frustrating to hear the myriad excuses that many people my age and younger have for not voting. I just don't get it.
But I love voting in my particular neighborhood. Without going into personal detail, I will illustrate why I feel like a blue hitchhiker on the wrong side of the red tracks.
This is what the list of names in my precinct looked like (I had time to sneak a peek as they checked me in):
Your Mom: REPUBLICAN
Your Dad: REPUBLICAN
Your Hippie Cousin: INDEPENDENT
Jo Pinionated: DEMOCRAT
Joe Schmo: REPUBLICAN
Mrs. Joe Schmo: REPUBLICAN
Joe Schmo's Elderly Father: REPUBLICAN
Not only that, but there was a very large stack of empty democratic ballots gathering dust with only two hours left until closing time.
Look, I love our house. It just so happens that we bought a home in a quiet suburb where no one else looks like k.d. lang.
That being said, after I left the polls I came across three women holding Obama signs, and of course I had to go talk to them.
Me: "Ladies, I just want to say how refreshing it is to see liberals out here in this town. It's a rare sight."
Ladies: "We drove in from Oakland."
So there you go.
Oh, spare me.
Today, I worked the Berkeley/Alameda County polls from 5:45 am to 10:45 pm.
Me -- a Republican in Berkeley. Where today, at least at the precincts I was at, the average Democrat Hillary/Obama count was into the 300's (as an example -- BHO - 205; HRC - 110).
While on the "red state side of the aisle," McCain and Romney fought out their battles in each precinct in single digits. (i.e., McCain - 5 and Romney - 3; or Romney - 6 and McCain - 3...per precinct!)
Honey, you don't know even know the meaning of political isolation!
Maybe I should move to the fricking 'burbs...hmmm? Do you NEED another Republican neighbor? OK, a Republican neighbor who throws good parties?
But what do you expect from a city (Berkeley) that has authorized a parking space for the Code Pink protesters right in front of the U.S. Marine recruiting office?
Happy Fat Tuesday! Or as I called it today -- Super FAT Tuesday!
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Oh John. I totally appreciate that you still read mine, but you really do need to start your own blog. As a matter of fact, I just checked and AnotherBerkeleyRepublican.blogspot.com is available. It's free and easy - go get it, man! But then you should reveal your dirty little secret; that your wife is a loud and proud liberal. She's your Maria, Arnold. Except probably more to the left.
Seriously though, you have a lot to say and you are a good writer; create a blog, and you will discover an online audience with common beliefs and values.
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I live in an extremely Red city too. And you know what? I vote by mail ballot because I just cannot stand going there and seeing how miserably I'm outnumbered.
Yay for change. Too bad CA went to Hillary.
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