Though it might not make that much of a difference, it's good to stay in practice.

So we still haven't voted yet tonight, we will be going to the booth once guru is off the phone with the homestead. I've done a bit or research this time, but I still feel like I don't know who or what I'm voting for. Annoyingly both major candidates gave similar answers to the questions poised to them by the lwv.

Later:

So I'm doing two things I've never done - I'm journaling on my laptop and watching the democratic candidates on rock the vote.

First, a few impressions:
I think it would be more useful if after the canidates respond you get to hear what the question bringer says under his breath to the guy next to them. I've seen it a few times where there is a response, but its lost.

If only someone could do this for republican canidates...but since there won't be any to run against bush.

I'd have to say after listening to these folks, I gave up and went to the web site and found this nifty crib sheet on the candiates.

I'd have to say that I'm mightily impressed with Carol Moseley Braun and Howard Dean. I think my "fantasy" democratic ticket would be Dean as president and Braun for vice president. I don't think that will really happen -- and there is a lot of of miles to go before election day 2004 -- but wouldn't be nice to have people who were not spinning their message every single g*d*mn minute? Though after looking at their individual views on the issues, Braun is liberal enough to make me grip the keyboard anxiously and make a noise like "eeeeeee"
*sigh*
Ah well.

Honestly, spin is really my major problem with our government. I feel that by the time we are in the presidential election, all we are hearing is spin and never a staight look at the issues at hand. I mean even in this measley little race for county executive its been nothing but spin for many weeks now. How am I suppose to feel any type of authenticity for this system of government?

I've recently finished the intro to politics book. I feel that some of my urban legends about our political machine have been debunked. Now I'm just basically terrified by our government. This is the single most depressing paragraph in the politics book:

One day, perhaps, real politicial issues will once again rise to the surface and there will be a real debate between sharply opposing political philosophies. Real issues, as there were in 1932, when the country chose [FDR's] New Deal. And in 1860, when the choice was even more stark, between slavery and perserving the union... For the moment, there is no sign of any issue that would rouse enough passion to start a new party or unite and reanimate either of the two existing ones.

I mean, what are we doing here then?

It just made me hang my head in shame.

Ack.