Primary ponderings.

[arib]

The Massachusetts primaries take place on February 5, which is probably referred to as Super Duper Ultra Mega Tuesday, or something.

I'm registered to vote, but am considered "unenrolled," since I don't currently belong to any political party. In Massachusetts, that means that I can vote in either the Republican or Democratic primaries. This leaves me with an interesting thought:

Do I find a candidate that I like (and I'm still considering things), and vote for them, or do I vote against a candidate I don't like, even if I'm not necesarily fond of the candidate I end up voting for?

Thoughts?

Comments

[lucretia-borgia.livejournal.com]

That's sort of like my election-year pondering. As an "unenrolled" voter, should I take one ballot and vote for the person I think has a good combination of acceptability and electability, or should I take the other ballot and vote for the person I think has a good combination of acceptability (should he win, G-d forbid) and unelectability. That is, if I want Hillary, should I take a Dem ballot and vote Hillary, or should I take a Repub ballot and vote Guiliani just to deny either McCain or Romney (or Huckabee) my vote and try to put the least electable but still not crazy guy up against Hillary?

Then I think to myself, Massachusetts voters are effectively disenfranchised no matter what I do (as are the voters in all the current non-swing states, til demographics change to turn them into swing states), so why waste energy thinking about it at all? That thought leads me to (in my hypothetical above) taking a D ballot and voting Hillary.

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

should I take a Repub ballot and vote Guiliani just to deny either McCain or Romney (or Huckabee) my vote and try to put the least electable but still not crazy guy up against Hillary?

This is kind of my current thinking about what I'm going to do on 5 February. I want Romney not to win MA in a major way. I'm considering voting McCain (because I can't vote for Giuliani or Huckabee and still look at myself in the mirror) to block a Romney win. But the thought of voting for McCain kind of makes my skin crawl, too. I briefly pondered voting for Ron Paul (under the "he's not Romney and doesn't have a snowball's chance), but I got over it.

[hfcougar.livejournal.com]

The primaries are on Mardi Gras? Seriously?

I am imagining all sorts of things involving beads now...

[dafydd.livejournal.com]

I laughed, yesterday, when I first heard someone make that association.

If Karma and Irony got together to have a baby, we would call it "21 Primaries and Caucuses on Mardi Gras."

[dmmaus.livejournal.com]

I just look at our Australian election system where you simply vote for who you would most like to win, and it actually works out that that's the most effective way to support them, and laugh. ;-)

[(Anonymous)]

That's assuming you have someone you would most like to win rather that the lesser on several evils.

[(Anonymous)]

Vote for the person you would most want, unless there is someone who you utterly detest who happens to be leading and you find it more important to derail their efforts

[fleurdelis28.livejournal.com]

One of my (Massachusetts-dwelling) coworkers apparently votes in one primary, then re-registers as the other party and votes in theirs, every year. I wasn't aware that it was, even on a purely practical level, possible to do that, but apparently it is. He says you have the option of changing your affiliation at the polling place itself, and wasn't aware that other people don't.

[marlowe1.livejournal.com]

Ah. So I contacted you through Ken Hartman, not knowing that I sort of knew you already - ok livejournal isn't really knowing anyone. Still too bad that you can't make it to Arisia. Well I suppose not, honeymoon seems to be a preferable method (what? No honeymoon at a science fiction convention).