I filled out my mail-in, early primary ballot this morning.It was ... depressing. As a Democrat in the state of Arizona, I have to reconcile myself with a very specific truth:
My party won't be in charge here for a while, if ever. Arizona is such an entrenched Republican state, and still considers itself quite "western," that most progressive or liberal ideas, movements and legislature gets squashed quickly. The cowboys here still think they need guns for the grocery store. Any kind of broad or sharply leaning Republican language is spoken here, and my preferred shade of blue is brushed to the side as hippie talk.
When your own political ideology is so quickly dismissed as a losing strategy, and most everything is decided by people of the opposing political party, it's very easy to get disappointed in the government. Basically, everything that I believe in will be defeated, ignored or bent over.
There are about 12 people running for governor of Arizona right now. Eight of them are Republican. One Democrat. One Libertarian. Two of some other party I don't remember.
Here's my quandary: Do I vote for the Democrat that I know won't win, or do I vote for the Republican candidate that will do the least amount of damage to my pet causes? Which one of these people will do minimal damage to abortion rights, gay marriage and public schools? Is there a safe way to play The Lesser of the Evils when they are all, essentially, really evil?
My primary ballot was horribly bleak, except for the Scottsdale City Council people. It's a sad and scary thing being this bright blue in a red state. How much does my vote really count for anything? Sure, it could be said that I'm a sore loser, but it's hard to just sit here while common civil rights are being stepped on, and citizens are not being treated equally. I'm so sad, no ... blue.
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