I loved the call I got from Shaina yesterday. She decided that she was going to register to vote in New Hampshire instead of Connecticut. She reasoned that her vote in Connecticut would “count less” in a state that would probably go for Kerry without her help; but that in New Hampshire it would be more meaningful in a State that Bush carried against Gore 4 years ago… and as she aptly pointed out if Gore had carried New Hampshire than all the shenanigans in Florida would be a minor footnote (like how the Republicans had tampered with the downstate Illinois vote… not well enough as it turned out… while the Daly machine did its magic in Cook County in 1960).
Shaina wanted to know about what to do with the rest of the ballot since she knew so little about the local or state level slate. I told her she could vote a straight ticket if she were so moved, or merely vote for the President.
She sounded excited to me… to be in a position to feel that you could make a difference. Bravo Shaina!! Go & make a difference!!
The call also brought back to memory my first election. It was 1968. LBJ was stepping down. Eugene McCarthy had taken the New Hampshire primary to the surprise of the Nation. Bobby Kennedy threw his hat in the ring just after that primary and was soon took the lead… McCarthy giving way to the RFK momentum.
His assassination was a blow to us… it now left us with a man who was deeply connected to the administration that had prosecuted a failed policy in Viet Nam. We were in rebellion against our own Party and now we had to choose between Humphrey and Nixon.
Like Shaina I decided to register in the State where I was attending school… New York. I was also involved in Dick Ottinger’s Senate campaign against James Buckley (Ottinger lost) and worked in the Democratic HQ in Schenectady stuffing envelopes and such.
I was very troubled by the choices for the President. I wrote to my Uncle Morris to ask him for his opinion… I shared my deep misgivings about Humphrey. Morris and Tiny had actually attended that famous Convention in Chicago…
I was looking for some sense of assurance. I detested Nixon who had well established himself as a sleazeball in his previous campaigns against Jerry Voorhis and Ellen Gahagen Douglas…
But Humphrey?
Morris assured me that he was a good man who would emerge from behind LBJ’s cloak if elected.
Was I happy with my choice? I felt better for Morris’ words and endorsement. But it would in fact be the first of every National election in which I voted… where I based my vote on who I thought was the lesser of two evils. In some years it was an easier choice than others.
Did I love McGovern? No. But man was that an easy vote. The most troublesome vote? I couldn’t vote for Carter the second time around; but I wasn’t going to vote for Reagan… I opted for Anderson (the only time I have voted for a third party candidate).
I like the excitement this year. I like the fact that folks seem more engaged. I don’t like that too many of us seem to be voting against someone, rather than for someone. But it still is a matter of making a choice… of standing up and participating.
And how many places on the planet can you do that?