Two weeks until the election, so you know what that means. Endorsement time!
President - OK, I voted for John McCain in the primary, as I got to couple the vicarious thrill of voting in a Republican primary with maximizing my opportunities to vote against Mitt Romney. But I went into it knowing that I wouldn't vote for him again in November, and that's still the case. We're too far apart on issues, and he's clearly not the McCain of 2000. His talk is less straight now than ever, and I fully expect he'll bust out some revamped versions of John Edwards' "two Americas" stump speech before the week is out.
So then there's the other major option, Barack Obama. We in Massachusetts got a sneak preview of his campaign two years ago when Deval Patrick ran for governor, as the whole hope/change theme was the basis of his candidacy. And considering that it's been a mixed bag for Governor Patrick, I worry about similar lack of results for a potential President Obama (though I think Obama will find working with Congress less problematic than Patrick has found working with our hack-infested state legislature). So I'm at a bit of an impasse with him.
Normally, I'd settle this by going with one of the third-party candidates. In 2004 I endorsed voting for any one of them, depending on your politics. The only problem is that this year's crop of third-party candidates is sorely lacking. Your choices:
Chuck Baldwin, Constitution Party: I don't know much about him as a person, but looking at the Party's website is interesting, to say the least. To quote their mission statement, "The goal of the Constitution Party is to restore American jurisprudence to its Biblical foundations and to limit the federal government to its Constitutional boundaries." Which is great news to the folks who train seeing-eye dogs. They also seem very concerned about the North American Union, a theoretical merger of the US, Canada and Mexico, though I think they're missing a fundraising opportunity by not selling party logo-embossed tinfoil hats on their website.
Bob Barr, Libertarian Party: My problem here is personal, as Barr's role in the Clinton impeachment makes me want to slap the stupid little mustache off of his face every time I see him on TV. That he's turned his back on the GOP and now may help to torpedo McCain in some states makes me a little happy, in that now people on both sides hate the twerp.
Cynthia McKinney, Green Party: Assuming I never get the change to slap Barr's mustache off his face, McKinney may be able to do the honors for me. I've voted for the Greens the last couple of times, but can't see myself doing so this time between the cop slapping and all.
Ralph Nader, Independent: At this point I think he keeps running because he likes to get out of the house.
With all that in mind, the best I can do is say that
Blogolicious endorses no one in particular, but wouldn't be heartbroken if you voted for Obama. Or Nader, if you want to get your third party on.
Senate - John Kerry is up against Republican Jeff Beatty and Libertarian Robert Underwood. Kerry is actually going through the motions of a campaign, as he's run TV ads, sent out mailers (including one with him acting as the T in the word VOTE) and even had a debate with Beatty on New England Cable News. I'll admit to knowing very little about Beatty and Underwood, but perusing their websites there's not enough there to convince me that either one of them is the right agent for change. So, for what it's worth,
Blogalicious endorses John Kerry, though not exactly with enthusiasm.
US House - John Tierney runs against Richard Baker, a Republican. We actually got a mailing for Baker last week, looking to get money from us to do another mailing. Why he didn't just do one mailing I'm not sure, but he did tout his experience balancing the budget of his local school district as why he's the pefect person to fix our economy. I expect his plan has Treasury agents going door to door to sell wrapping paper, scented candles, and shares of AIG. While I'm dubious on him due to his switcharoo on the bailout bill,
Blogalicious endorses John Tierney.
State House - Our state rep (Mary Grant) and state senator (Fred Berry) and governor's councilor (Mary Ellen Manning) are all running unopposed, so an endorsement seems pointless. However, we'll go out of district as
Blogalicious endorses Arthur Vigeant for state representative for the Fourth Middlesex District. In the interest of full disclosure I work with one of his family members, but he does seem like the right choice, given that he's a long-time Marlborough city counselor running against a Democrat who was an aide to the previous rep.
I won't bore you with county races.
Ballot Question 1 seeks to repeal the state income tax in Massachusetts, cutting it in half next year and removing it entirely the following year. This doesn't seem like the best idea, given what the medium-term predictions are for the economy, and when paired with the cap cities and towns have on raising property tax the results of this passing look pretty grim. On the other hand, if you ever wanted to pay $750 to renew your driver's license, this seems like the perfect way to have it happen.
Blogalicious endorses a no vote on Question 1.Ballot Question 2 would decriminalize possession of an ounce or less of marijuana, replacing criminal sanctions with fines and (in some cases) mandated treatment. Law enforcement and county DAs are against the question, and while I do have some concern related to public health and safety, I'm not convinced that the criminal system is the best way to approach things, so
Blogalicious endorses a yes vote on Question 2.Ballot Question 3 would ban dog racing, a proposal that's been brought up before and met with narrow defeat. While supporters focus on animal cruelty issues, I'm thinking this would be a good way to open up space for actual casinos. Trump's people have already looked at Wonderland, the track in Revere, which is located near public transportation and is likely to go bankrupt due to low revenue and significant tax debt. This could also shift racing fans to Suffolk Downs, which could use the business as well. So, perhaps twisted logic, but it leads to
Blogalicious endorsing a yes vote on Question 3.