I never thought it would happen to me.

[rivka]

I voted for a Republican today.

Ten years of voting, and never before have I even been tempted. But today I voted for Mary Tung over Neil Quinter for the Maryland House of Delegates. We're allowed to vote for up to three Delegates, and I voted for Democrats for the other two positions, so I'm still supporting a Democratic majority. But still.

She's pro-choice - not stealth Republican "I support a woman's right to choose, but I am very concerned about the evil scourge of partial-birth abortions" pro-choice, but "I don't support any changes to Maryland abortion laws" pro-choice. She's got a doctorate in biomedical science. She's done HIV research. She wants to preserve rural land in our overdeveloped and overcrowded county. She wants to pass a law to allow free speech on quasi-public private property.

(That sounds strange, I know. But curiousangel and I live in a 95,000-person community without a single inch of "public" space - the downtown, the parks, everything is private property under the aegis of the Columbia Homeowner's Association. There's nowhere to exercise your constitutionally protected rights of free speech and assembly. It's stifling.)

She even passes my acid test for female politicians: she uses her last name on her lawn signs rather than having perky "fly me, I'm Susie!" first-name-only signs. ("Elect Bridget!" "Vote for Joan!" I have no idea why this is such a popular tactic among female candidates - I can't stand it.)

She's a good candidate. Except, you know, that she's a Republican. And I voted for her.

I would never vote for a Republican in a national election. If Tung were running for the U.S. House of Representatives, no matter how moderate her personal beliefs are, a vote for her would be a vote for Dick Armey and the rest of the hard-right Republican leadership. But for the House of Delegates, in which Democrats hold 106 of the 141 seats, well... hmm.

This is how they get their foot in the door, isn't it?

Comments

[wiredferret.livejournal.com]

That's one way to think of it. The other way to think of it is that this is how she gets her foot in their door and shakes their belief that the only electable Republican is a right-wing Republican. You have to respect that, and I think it sounds like a good vote.

[wcg.livejournal.com]

Hi! I'm Bill. Pleased to meet you. We seem to be sharing a brain today, as that is exactly what I was about to say when I saw your comment first.

[wiredferret.livejournal.com]

Hi, Bill. It's good to know I'm not a lone weirdo. ;>

[kiya]

It's always kinda neat when my world develops a new fold. . . .

[mittelbar.livejournal.com]

Poor thang. :-)

It's hard being a liberal voter in Maryland; we do have some good Republicans.

I think it's nice to be able to vote for people who represent what you believe in, and really hard to judge the power that a party will have over the behavior of a person when they're in office.

I won't be able to vote until tonight. Gleep.

[klwalton.livejournal.com]

(That sounds strange, I know. But curiousangel and I live in a 95,000-person community without a single inch of "public" space - the downtown, the parks, everything is private property under the aegis of the Columbia Homeowner's Association. There's nowhere to exercise your constitutionally protected rights of free speech and assembly. It's stifling.)

That's interesting. Here in California, even if something (like a parking lot or the "public" spaces of a mall) are private property, for the purposes of such things as free speech and press access, they are "public" - which would, I suppose, fall under the definition of quasi-public private property. Any place which is open to access by the public is considered such. In the case of a shopping mall, actual store space is considered "restricted" access, but the public spaces such as the walkways and food court area are considered "public". Good luck with this; that kind of space is, IMNSHO, terribly important.

[fourgates.livejournal.com]

I seem to recall that a few (i.e., less than 10) years ago the U.S. Supreme Court gave a ruling saying essentially that the right to post signs (political or whatever) on your own property is an important enough instance of free speech that it supercedes potential conflicting interests of neighborhood associations and such. I remember that it was a surprisingly broad ruling, but I don't remember whether they addressed condos and other community-owned property.

Re:

[klwalton.livejournal.com]

Maybe City of Ladue vs. Gilleo? This was the case of a city trying to prohibit a homeowner from posting an anti-war sign. There have also been quite a few district court and state court rulings in favour signs being a form of protected speech.

voting republican

[pir-anha.livejournal.com]

she sounds like an eminently good choice. in fact i wonder why she is a republican. :) oh, i wish the US didn't have this bloody two-party system. it is just so broken IMO.

[geekchick]

Here's part of a transcript of a radio ad for our opponent to John Warner for Senate:

I urge President Bush to stand in front of a mirror, very quietly. He should look hard into that mirror, and think about what he has been saying about launching an unprovoked aggressive war. He should ask himself: Isn't what I've been saying, actually insane?

President George Bush should think long and hard about that, and so should you. The insanity is coming from a group of chickenhawks, led by Vice-President Dick Cheney, who laid out a plan back in 1990, to set up the United States as a New Roman Empire. I support Lyndon LaRouche's demand that Cheney resign now!

The Democrats didn't even bother putting up a candidate for Senate (although Nancy is calling herself the "LaRouche Democrat candidate", I don't think it's going over so well with the actual Democrats here) so I think I'll be sitting this particular ballot item out.

[geminigirl]

I'm with you on the sitting out. I stood there in the voting booth, staring at the ballot and just horrified and upset that there was no alternative to John Warner. There are far more horrifying Republicans out there, but I couldn't bring myself to push the button for him when I was in there.

[patgreene.livejournal.com]

Okay, but you were a good girl and voted in the other races, I hope? : > I came very close to not voting in the CA gubernatorial race (as the challenger is a right-winger and the incumbent seems more interested in fundraising than actually running the state) but I held my breath and voted anyway.

[dedoc.livejournal.com]

"...this is how they get their foot in the door.."

Well, *another* way to look at it is that you did what you should as a voter, and looked at the best choice for THAT given race.

I voted mostly Republican... it's just one of my eccentricities... but I voted cheerfully for Libertarians and Democrats in at least 4 of the races on my ballot.

I haven't voted a pure party line in ages.

I think it's OK, Rivka, honest.