It just doesn't match last year's epic battle, but today's elections are still important in some places. Here in Livingston, a triumvirate of astroturf-y right-wing candidates are seeking city commission seats, making a trip to the polls a necessity. In Washington and Maine, voters have the privilege of voting on other people's civil rights, which really defies belief. I can only hope that our friends on the extremes of each coast vote the right way. I can only imagine what it would be like to be waiting for a vote to decide if the primary relationship in my life was worthy of societal recognition.
In Maine, one of the best examples of actual changing mores came from World War II veteran Phillip Spooner who spoke movingly of his gay son and the importance of equality:
If you haven't watched this yet, I defy you to do so and not tear up. Let's face it, folks, if an 86-year-old man is defending gay marriage, we are not exactly talking about a cutting-edge issue anymore. It's not radical, the idea of people being able to love and form lifelong bonds with whomever they choose. It's simple fairness and equality. Let's hope the voters of Maine and Washington stand up for that.
In other election news, the whole day is being billed as a giant referendum on the Obama presidency, as if we will be able to tell definitively after today whether he's totally failed or maybe has a chance to not fail until a couple of years from now. When this line from an NPR report woke me up this morning, it was all I could do not to scream: "Congressional Republicans voted almost unanimously against the stimulus package, and they're quick to pounce each time new job losses are reported."
Quick to pounce? Quick to pounce? Boy, I'm glad somebody is enjoying the American workers' darkest hour. You know, I hated the Bush presidency with a fiery passion, but I never let that spill over into wishing for people to lose their jobs or get killed in wars just to prove a political point. And they say the "liberal elites" are anti-American? Please. All of the Glenn Becks and Rush Limbaughs out there are making no secret of wanting Obama to fail, and how exactly does that benefit the country?
Now, if you'll excuse me, I have an election to vote in. I'm going to take my son to the polls so that he can see some small-town democracy in action.