Downer Ballot

It's election day, so I've had one eye on the election coverage to see if W. gets the mid-term smackdown he has coming. Somewhat belatedly, I just finished Richard Clarke's 9/11 tell-all "Against All Enemies," sufficiently frothing my ire to vote against those who would sell a failed personal vendetta as successful counter-terrorism policy.

For better or worse, Lloyd Doggett has been un-re-gerrymandered back into my district (or is that vice versa?). Upside: I get to vote for a solid Dem that I like. Downside: No real Congressional protest vote for me. The best I could do was pee in Kay Bailey's breezy sashay back to another Senate term.

Perhaps I'll take some solace in the fact that my Governor will be elected with over half of the votes going against him. But it's no real comfort to know that those anti-Perry votes either went to a bland sacrificial Democrat, a tactless and content-free independent, or a woman who changes her name and party affiliation more often than her hairstyle.

Months ago, I thought it would be good to have a big crowd rocking the political boat, maybe take Perry down a notch or two with a shrewdly-timed broadside. Instead we get Strayhorn spinning cycles trying to get herself listed as "Grandma" on the ballot while Kinky treats the campaign trail like an audition for the Redneck Racist Comedy Tour. (truthfully, I think Kinky's more of a candidate for the Politically-Unfit Jackass Comedy Tour, but that doesn't rhyme)

Otherwise, voting was little more than an excuse to spin the "hi-tech" dial across a slate of unchallenged judges and dubious bond propositions. A reminder, if ever one was needed, what a fragile sham construct our hyper-segmented form of democracy truly is. I hardly think that a litany of unopposed races and ballot initiatives shielded behind trite marketing slogans matches the Founders' vision of representative democracy.

If my vote is my voice, today's response to six years of deception and mediocrity should have been a scream of outrage blasted in the face of the crooked and complacent. But all they got was a hushed "you suck," mumbled under my breath.

Update: At least some other parts of the country had the option to voice their dissent. Democracy does indeed require a perspective beyond your own ballot.