Open primaries
Posted on May 5, 2008
A few years ago I found about open primaries. I’m an independent, but a friend of mine who worked the polls told me that independents could also vote in primaries in Indiana, but they had to choose one primary to vote in. In other words, an independent could vote in a Democratic primary, but not a Republican, or could vote in a Republican primary, but not a Democratic one. Sounded like an interesting idea, but it didn’t seem to matter too much…until now.
When I found out that the Indiana primaries were in May, I figured they would all be decided and it would be a waste of time to bother voting in the primary. Years ago, I would have supported McCain over Bush. I like the idea of having an armed-forces veteran in the White House. McCain, Kerry, and Gore are all Vietnam veterans, while Bush served in the Texas Air National Guard, which isn’t quite the same thing. However, the economy is going to be a bigger issue in this campaign than the War in Iraq. The war is still an important issue, but the economy will certainly affect more people than the war does. I don’t know anyone in the armed forces at the moment, but I do know the price of groceries seems to be going up a bit. Even though gas prices don’t affect me directly (don’t own a car), I know that the cost of transportation is figured into the prices of things in stores, and as gas prices go up, so do the prices in the stores. The reason I’m not likely to vote for McCain this time around is because he admitted the economy wasn’t his strong point (This was around he time Mitt Romney was still in the race). McCain might be a good War President, he might be a good leader (despite the occasional foot-in-mouth issues), but I think the economy needs more attention at the moment.
Anyway, since McCain has the Republican nomination pretty much sewn up, I can turn my attention to the Democratic candidates. If I vote in the primary tomorrow (today) it will be for Obama. My first thought about him years ago during the Democratic convention was that he is a hell of an orator. However it takes more than speeches to be a good president. I was a little worried about his experience until I found out he served for many years in the Illinois legislature. It also dawned on me that a lot of others (George Bush and Bill Clinton, for example) also lacked experience yet won the White House. I think who he picks for a running mate and for cabinet positions will be important in winning in November. My suggestions woud be Wesley Clark (a retired general) or Bill Richardson ( a former diplomat).
Despite the fact that his campaign has been sending me junk mail, I can relate more to Obama than I can to Clinton. Obama’s parents divorced when he was young. He went to a bunch of different schools and moved around a lot. His family even got Food Stamps when he was younger, which is something I also remember. I have a lot of respect for someone who can go from a childhood like that to eventually become a senator or even president. Even if I don’t vote tomorrow, I wish him luck.
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