Vote. For. The. Democrat. *
* Unless you live in the 43rd LD, in which case you should vote for Socialist Jess Spear, not because there’s anything particularly awful about Frank Chopp, but because he’s the Speaker, and it’s always good for a Democratic Speaker to feel a little pressure from the left. (Plus, it’s not like Frank’s actually going to lose or anything, so where’s the harm?) But other than Jess, vote for the Democrat, regardless of how many billions in tax breaks they voted to give Boeing, because even if a particular Republican candidate is not entirely a woman-hating, union-busting, gun-slinging, Koch-sucking corporatist nutjob (and he or she probably is), his or her election would just enable the woman-hating, union-busting, gun-slinging, Koch-sucking corporatist nutjobs who dominate the Republican Party. So don’t be an enabler! Of course, if there’s more than one credible Democrat in the race, vote for the one the Seattle Times didn’t endorse (I mean, duh-uh), except in the 37th LD, where I’m voting for Pramila Jayapal anyway. Pig, truffle, and all that. And on a related note, vote “Yes” on Seattle Prop 1 to create a Metropolitan Parks District, if only because the Seattle Times endorsed “No,” and, well, fuck ’em, amirite? But whatever you do, no Republicans, because Republicans suck, and we desperately need the Democrats to control the legislature if we’re to have a snowball’s chance at responsibly moving forward on a transportation funding package, the state Voting Rights Act, fully funding McCleary, protecting reproductive rights, and other crucial issues. And if you think my four-word formula is a stupid or lazy way to do endorsements, well, it ends up achieving the exact same result as my former colleagues’ kajillion-word SECB missive—except for the Spear/Chopp race, because unlike them my balls didn’t ascend into my abdomen upon my departure. Metaphorically. (I mean, they haven’t literally, either. But you know what I mean.) Whatever. Vote. For. The. Democrat.
That’s the message I’ve been trying to get across for the last 10 years, while you were deleting some of my comments as “off topic.” All of my 100,000+ comments on HA have been on topic, because the topic of this blog is, “Republicans suck,” and that’s what I’ve always said in one way or another.
Given how consistently wrong the Republican Times editorial board is, should we call them sociopaths? Or is that going too far, and are they merely antisocial?
Well done, Goldy! Succinct and cogent.
Jess Spear will win as soon a the working class decides to fight back. Even if it is not totally happening yet she will be picking up speed and providing great leadership. And, oh ya, She could win.
Vote for Jess Spear because she’s a long shot and it’s good to pressure the incumbent? Why not just vote for any republicans in democrat-dominated areas to pressure the dems to be more like dems?
Voting for Spear probably would give further-left Democrats the same sense of accomplishment and voice that Florida Dems felt for several hours in 2000, after they pulled the Nader lever in order to send a message to Al Gore.
@5 Because voting for somebody to the left of you provides pressure from the left, whereas voting for somebody to the right of you provides pressure from the right. Duh.
@6 Don’t be stupid. There is no way voting for Jess Spear could hand a victory to Republicans. There isn’t even a Republican running. Not at all comparable.
Will vote Spear and disappointed that The Stranger wouldn’t let Chopp sweat.
Will also vote Watanabe and No on Prop 1.
BONUS: Watanabe hasn’t been sucking-up to all the Pooh Bahs.
Regarding Prop 1: I won’t vote on an initiative that will not allow the Oversight Committee from conducting an audit.
I know a few voters (well, 3) who assumed their vote for Kshama Sawant would have that same effect, (yes i know there many here who think that outcome was an entirely positive one), and who now regret sending quite such a ‘loud’ message. so briefly consider your strategic advice against the backdrop of a non-insignificant number who are just tired of Conl… er Chopp.
What is with The Stranger?
The Stranger published their endorsements, which included Chopp. Then, they felt it necessary to send-out another endorsement publication for Chopp. Maybe they are worried about Spear.
@ 7
There is no way voting for Jess Spear could hand a victory to Republicans.
I did not mention a Republican. See @9.
Sloppy Travis Bickle,
“Voting for Spear probably would give further-left Democrats the same sense of accomplishment and voice that Florida Dems felt for several hours in 2000, after they pulled the Nader lever in order to send a message to Al Gore.”
Clearly you took some stupid pills today. The two situations have almost nothing in common beyond the fact that there is an election.
PLEASE, quit being stupid. It is fine to be snarky, but snark REALLY falls flat when built on lazy sophistry.
Sloppy Travis Bickle,
“I did not mention a Republican. See @9.”
You didn’t have to. Goldy’s point is still apt. See @12.
“I did not mention a Republican. See @9.”
Not by name. But it wasn’t Irma la Douce who was declared the winner in Florida in 2000. So, the overly picky distinction you make about not actually saying the word Republican is a distinction without a difference.
@ 12, 13
My point, also, is quite reasonably apt. This isn’t IRV world. Each citizen gets one vote. It should be used wisely, not taken lightly. The message sent by voting for someone one might not actually prefer to win isn’t all that different from the message sent by staying home. And in either case, the outcome might end up contrary to the intended message.
Sloppy Travis Bickle,
“Each citizen gets one vote. It should be used wisely, not taken lightly.”
This point is certainly reasonable as a stand-alone point.
Your previous point was simply a bad analogy and a failed attempt at snark.
@ 16
I’ll work on my analogies and snark. I’m sure we can all agree that voting for the candidate you really don’t want to win, in order to send a message to your preferred candidate, is sage advice.
After all, as Goldy said, “Where’s the harm?”
Sloppy Travis Bickle,
“I’ll work on my analogies and snark.”
Thank you.
“I’m sure we can all agree that voting for the candidate you really don’t want to win, in order to send a message to your preferred candidate, is sage advice.”
Nope. You are thinking naively. There are many circumstances where a person might use their vote in ways OTHER that voting for a preferred candidate…particularly in a primary race (did someone just say “Mississippi”??). For example, here is one concrete example.
In fact, Goldy, suggests a perfectly reasonable way to deploy ones vote as a way of potentially making it more effective (i.e. by sending a message), and in a way that entails almost no risk of negative consequences whatsoever. That is a perfectly normal and acceptable way to use ones vote.
The other component of your naïve thinking is that people voting for Spear have a preference for Chopp to win. Many people (like me, if I were in his district) would vote for almost anyone other than Chopp—anyone except a Republican/right winger. Other people (perhaps even Goldy?) would be equally happy if either one won.
“After all, as Goldy said, “Where’s the harm?”
And he would be correct.
@18 Actually, I would prefer for Spear to win. Light a fire under the Dems. And I’d love to see what she’d do with office.
But I’m a realist.
@18, 19 until the left actually starts voting with conviction instead of ‘strategically’ (i.e. for the lesser of two evils) we’ll continue to be stuck with electing ‘not as bad as the republican but still pretty awful’ democrats. But then again, if the 2016 democratic primary comes down to a choice between 1. Hilary Clinton, 2. Andrew Cuomo, or 3. Corey Booker… I think I’ll stab my left eye out with a rusty fork.
I guess I don’t have a point. Never mind. We’re screwed.
@15 “Each citizen gets one vote. It should be used wisely, not taken lightly.”
My my, such lofty and noble-sounding words. The problem is, you shill for a political party that spends millions of dollars and countless man-hours trying to prevent millions of their fellow American citizens from voting. As long as Republicans are passing voter suppression laws and engaging in vote suppression activities — which they’re doing on a huge nationwide scale — anything that any Republican or GOP supporter says about voting responsibly rings hollow. You can’t have any credibility in what you say about other people’s votes as long as you continue to support a party that tries to keep other people from exercising their right to vote.
@20 Voting for anybody but the Republican, even if the alternative is the worst possible Democrat, is responsible voting. Voting Republican is so bad for the country and our fellow citizens that it should be considered a crime.
@22
“Voting Republican is so bad for the country and your fellow citizens that it should be considered a crime.”
Well, that we can agree on. The rub comes when there is a third party candidate. Here are your choices: 1. Hilary Clinton, 2. (whichever republican clown wins the nomination – Marco Rubio, Rand Paul, Chris Christie, ???), or 3. some truly liberal third party candidate. Who do you vote for?
For the record, I didn’t vote for Ralph Nadar – I thought he ran a dishonest campaign and I thought Al Gore deserved a chance. Just like I thought Barack Obama deserved a chance in 2008, despite all the Wall Street warning signs. After 4 years, he had his chance and I didn’t vote for him 2012. And I think it is pretty obvious who butters Hilary’s toast (hint: a famous street in NY city), so I have no expectations of her being anything but a corporatist hack if elected.
Oh for the simple method of “populist voting” (sometimes referred to as semi-proportional). with this method you can vote for as many candidates as you like, (voting for all of them essentially cancels your vote). in the end the candidate with the most votes wins. so a progressive could vote for both Gore and Nader. it would be like pure electoral Utopia! sooo…. it ain’t ever never gonna happen, no-way.
@19 thankee Goldy, that’s what i wanted to know.
@19 Exactly. Besides, Chopp’s held that seat since….when? Hell, didn’t he pitch a tent in Olympia in anticipation of Washington becoming a state?
@24
I’d prefer instant run-off or ranked voting. When voting, you list your candidates in order of preference. All the top choice votes are counted and if no candidate has a majority, the candidate with the least number of votes is dropped. The process is repeated until one of the candidates wins a majority. If your number one candidate is dropped, then your second choice becomes your top choice in subsequent vote counts, etc.
But I can see the method you described as being a lot more straightforward. Either would be a huge improvement but of course both the democratic and republican parties fight these kind of reforms tooth and nail.
Vote. For. The. Republican.
@26
Optional Preferential is better than IRV as it doesn’t lead to unintended consequences a la the recent Australian Senate election. With OP you number only as far as you want your preference to flow, and it works well for various state level elections in Australia.
@27 Who are you? A subversive? Or is that supposed to be comical?
Vote for the Democrat for this election; otherwise, Goldy would also need a disclaimer about Rodney Tom going to fuck himself.
Yes, each citizen, one vote! Really? http://townhall.com/tipsheet/h.....t-n1828238
Yes, each citizen, one vote! Really? http://watchdog.org/156197/mul.....rosscheck/
Of course HA DUMMOCRETINS close their eyes and bury their heads in the sand!
Person Playing Puddybud @ 31,
Your stupid-ass character should know that being REGISTERED isn’t the same as voting.
There is lots and lots of duplicate registration across states because people move and don’t remember to cancel their old registration.
Case in point: Remember Mr. Cynical? When he moved out of state, he failed to cancel his WA registration. How do I know? For some time after he moved I check the voter records after each election to make sure he didn’t vote in WA.
Are you suggesting something is sinister about Mr. Cynical being registered in two different states? Is Mr. Cynical a “voter fraudster” by your idiotic reasoning?
You fucking performance artists are such drama queens!
Darryl @32…
Perfect!
How did Puddy know Da Perfessa would show up..? http://www.politico.com/story/.....05335.html
35,000 duplicate entries? Hmmm…? Of course let’s ignore this… gotta be poll worker error! And http://www.npr.org/2012/02/14/.....ed-to-vote
Perfect rujaxoff? Perfect or as Puddy wrote above, you close your eyes and put your small neanderthal head in the sand!
Person Playing Puddybud @34
“35,000 duplicate entries? Hmmm…? Of course let’s ignore this… gotta be poll worker error! And”
Total bullshit. You are talking about the service offered by nutbagger SOS Kris Kobach (R-KS). The idea of crosschecking across states isn’t a bad one, but Kobach has simply used the program to generate propaganda using numbers arrived at by poorly matched data.
So what becomes of all these scary numbers?
And about those 1.8 million dead people who are on the voter roles…all I can say is, how fucking rude of them to not have the forethought to cancel their registration just before dying.
And that concludes our discussion of the topic in this thread. This thread isn’t about voter registration issues. Take any response to an open thread.
Except in the 31st Legislative District, where Lynda Messner (a/k/a Dabson) is running as a Democrat against Cathy Dahlquist and Pam Roach. Some juicy stuff about Messner on the Seattle Times political blog from May 21, and I quote: ‘It turns out Messner, who also goes by Lynda Dabson, isn’t much of a loyal Democrat. State Rep. Chris Hurst, D-Enumclaw, captured online posts by Messner on conservative web sites in which she echoes tea party Republican talking points. In one, Messner called for the impeachment of President Obama because “he is not a citizen.” She added: “NO OBAMACARE, NO GUN CONTROL, NO DEALS WITH THE UN, NO IMMIGRATION REFORM, NO MORE EXECUTIVE ORDERS until Obama can proove (sic) he is eligible to hold office.” In another, she called the president “Obama Bundy!!! Disagree with him and he will ‘Dahmer’ your hide.”’ (Source: http://blogs.seattletimes.com/.....peachment/)
I vote Democrat most of the time, but in this case it’s Cathy Dahlquist for me.
I’m not so convinced that Chopp will prevail.
While I’d agree that almost every Dem is better than almost any Republican, that ignores the vast difference between truly progressive Dems (such as Sen. Bob Hasegawa) and corporate Dems (such as Sen. Rodney Tom and Rep. Ross Hunter, who granted huge tax breaks to Microsoft).
And if you believe you stand to have a better government, a better community and a better life with Democrats in office and Republican mouth breathing teabaggers left at home to troll blogs and fester in ignorance watching Fox, then …..
Don’t stop with just voting for a Democrat in this election. Talk to your neighbors, your friends, your cousins, your colleagues…. and remind everybody you can to vote in this election.
Remember when people like you vote and establish the habit of voting regularly, people like you win….regularly.
Think about it, then act upon it.
I read the whole voter’s pamphlet today, thinking that I possibly might have a skewed opinion of Republicans’ intelligence, experience, capability, and even basic literacy. Nope. Vote Democrat.