Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Today's Obvious Political Thought



It's the problem with a two-party system when combined with voter dissatisfaction. If you wish to protest what is going on you can either not vote or vote for the opposition. Voting for a third party is like not voting, sadly.

This is a painful problem right now for any progressive/liberal, because it was the Bush administration which got us all into this mess. But people are not happy with the Obama administration, and the elections are supposed to be about that dissatisfaction, even though Obama is not up for re-election. To punish the current administration or Congress by putting the fundamentalists (of both the religious and the financial type) back into power is really really stupid. They will make the problems worse. This can be easily read from what they propose to do: To make the problems worse.

Then there are all those governors' races which will affect redistricting and thus affect politics far into the future:

Next month's governors' races also have big implications for U.S. House elections from 2012 through 2020. The House's 435 seats are reapportioned every decade, after each census. States will redraw their districts next year in a process that often is intensely political, with borders crafted to help or hurt a party, or even a particular politician.

Most governors have extensive power to influence the process, including the right to veto plans they dislike.
All of which boils down to me urging all of you to vote.