Since today is Super Tuesday and there is a primary here in Georgia, may be I should go ahead and endorse somebody. There are obviously a few caveats:
- I am a New Jersey resident, so I can’t vote in Georgia. And the Jersey primary isn’t till June 8.
- Who am I kidding? I am not even a US citizen. So no vote for me.
Still, that can’t stop me from endorsing someone. So here goes:
I endorse John Kerry for President. I don’t think there’s much of a difference between Kerry and Edwards except the following:
- Edwards is much more of a charmer and better talker.
- Compared to Kerry, Edwards doesn’t have much experience in politics.
- In terms of rhetoric, Edwards has been talking against free trade and the move of jobs oversees.
Based on this short list, Kerry wins 2—1. These are not the only reasons I am supporting Kerry.
I don’t have time to do a more detailed post since I have to go to work now. Consider this post a work in progress. I’ll add more details about my reasoning later. Just wanted to post this in case someone was waiting for my endorsement to decide how to vote today. 🙂
POSTSCRIPT: PhotoDude reminds me that the Georgia flag is on the ballot today as well. Even though the referendum is non-binding, I think we should vote for the Roy Barnes flag. I know it’s ugly, but it’s better than having the Georgia flag looking like the Confederate national flag.
UPDATE (Mar 3, 1:55am): Kerry did pretty well today.
The plan was to write in detail about my endorsement in the evening, but Edwards has dropped out, making Kerry the de facto nominee. Also, I didn’t get around to it until this late. So I am not at all motivated to write the post I had in mind.
On to November. And President Kerry.
Georgia Flag vote
“Oh and the stupid flag. I get to vote on the stupid flag. When Zell Miller was governor he condemned the existing flag that featured the Stars and Bars, but lacked the backbone to remove it. When Roy Barnes replaced Miller as governor he had the gut…
Zack, I would actually be interested to know which candidate from the intitial range came closest to your views politically, as opposed to having a better chance at being elected. Am I right in assuming that going by pure ideological factors it wouldn’t have been Kerry or Edwards but somebody more left-of-centre?
This sounds stupid, but I’m actually kind of surprised that long-term residents can’t vote. I figured we just taxed the crap out of you. I don’t see the point, really.
Although, now that I think about it, it doesn’t make sense that residents would ba able to vote while citizens living in DC or Puerto Rico wouldn’t. And here’s another example of what happens when you assume.
Conrad: To tell you the truth, I wasn’t able to make up my mind. I liked aspects of Kerry, Edwards, Dean, Clark (and here) and Kucinich but other stuff turned me off of them.
Here are the results of an online quiz. Take with a grain of salt.
I am a very confused man politically in the American system. I like the social democratic aspects of caring for everyone a la Scandinavia which makes me almost a communist here. On the other hand, I am a big fan of free trade and globalization which is one of the things that turned me off Kucinich as well as Edwards. I am generally a social liberal but I am not a single-issue voter on gun control/rights (I mildly favor gun control), abortion rights (I have a very muddled position), gay rights (I favor marriage over civil union). I don’t like French laicite, but am uncomfortable with the presence of God in American politics. On the environment, I am probably closer to the German Greens than any American party.
On the other hand, I have always thought of voting as a strategic thing. I look at it as maximizing benefit or minimizing cost over the medium term.
Andrew: Non-citizens can’t vote and I think that’s a good policy for now. But I pay similar amounts of tax as you. There’s no non-citizen tax.
The whole DC and Puerto Rico people not being able to vote freaks me out though.