So today is election day in the US. This election has been a shit show for months if not over a year now. It has been difficult to deal with and hard to exist within. I live in Ohio which is a battleground state and as of Monday predicted to go Trump. I am ashamed to be a part of a state that might actually swing towards the bloviating stack of rotten pumpkin muffins. So I guess everyone knows how I voted, but I hope that the predictions are wrong because the voting landscape has shifted.
Anyhoo… It has been a horrible election and now I am answering 20 Questions about it. Thanks to Chris Corrigan, Lisa Sigler, Some Other Guy, and Scott LeMien. Now, let’s get to some questions!
1. Your election system for head of state is the longest, most expensive and most cumbersome in the world. What would it take to shift it?
Hopefully this election. Campaigns are now lasting almost 2 years for a four year position. It is insane. There are so many things that need to be done to overhaul the system.
2. What is the advantage of having each of the states run it’s own version of a federal election vs. having a single, national, non-partisan elections commission like we do in the rest of the world?
Well, if we had a national election system the states would all be in a tizzy because of state’s rights and all that jazz.
It honestly confuses the hell out of me.
3. Isn’t Veep a great show?
I have only heard good things about it, but since we are cableless… there is not HBO in the house to view Veep.
4. I've seen speculation that, because both candidates are so unpopular, that voter turnout might be very low, while others assume that it will be high because everybody is very concerned. What's your gut feeling on it?
High voter turn-out. My gut says there will be lines upon lines.
5. One of the many points of difference between to two major-party presidential candidates is experience-- career politician vs. Washington outsider. Can any Washington outsider really be effective? I mean, even if he or she were rational, morally upstanding, and well-liked, isn't it automatically an uphill battle?
No Washington outsider can be as effective as they attempt to advertise. That was one of the problems many people had Obama at the beginning. He filled his staff with known people instead of outsiders. He was not the “Change” people expected. His changes have been more slowly burning, that required him to be a lame duck to get anything done.
6. Are we over-inflating the role of President in the economy and other areas? I'm always bemused by the candidate's grand pronouncements about tax plans, since the executive branch doesn't actually have that much to do with taxes.
The president often sets the table for the way things will be directed. They do not have ultimate power over how things get implemented, but they do have a bully pulpit (old school term, not associated with the modern understanding of bullies) to push a generalized direction for policies.
7. Is America great? Has it been great, and we've fallen away from that greatness somehow?
America is great. It has been great. It will be great. It is not as great nor ever has been as great as we have thought it to be. Is America the best evar, kthnxbye? Hell’s no. America is great but not the best.
8. Should everyone vote, really?
Sadly, yes. Even the uneducated and easily manipulated.
9. Do you think the US will ever have a viable 3rd party?
Unless the GOP is lambasted by the Dems this election, there will be no real change to the political landscape. If the race is even remotely close on a state by state basis, then the existing power structure for the GOP will think the system they have created is salvageable… continuing to lump the fiscal conservatives and moderates in with the alt-right. As long as the existing system seems like it could be viable, they will continue to try and viable it.
10. What is the biggest democracy on the planet?
India.
11. Speaking of Indian voting… How far is the maximum distance ANY VOTER OF THE 814.5 MILLION PEOPLE ELIGIBLE TO VOTE IN INDIA HAS TO TRAVEL TO GET A POLLING PLACE IN INDIA?
1 mile. Just 1 mile… because they want everyone to be able to vote. Everyone. Let that sink in.
12. What are the ways that the actual election day process of elections could be made more friendly in the US?
Move the day to Wednesday and make it a federal holiday. Increase the preliminary voting time and open the preliminary voting centers for longer hours. Or we could do it like India and make it so EVERY VOTER DOES NOT HAVE TO TRAVEL MORE THAN 1 MILE TO VOTE.
13. What do you think about the heightened presence of the green and libertarian party this election?
I think it is overall a good thing. The problem is that the system is so entrenched in the 2 party mode that national position seeking Libertarian candidates tend to slough off over to the GOP and the Green party tends to migrate to the Dems at the national level. There are many reasons for this. The 3rd and 4th parties are not strong enough in a national sense to make a dent in the big races. They really should focus on grass rootsing it. Focus on some key regional positions and start making differences there. Johnson and Weld did (supposedly) good jobs with their states as governors, maybe they could run for the US Senate in their respective states and really throw a wrench in the balance of power for the Senate. 3rd party will never be able to go from 0 to 60. It has to be a slow burn.
14. Does it give you hope for more choices in the future?
Hopefully the GOP realizes that they have gone to bed with a snake and will try to divest itself of that snake. That party does not run itself as reasonable conservatism any more. They campaign on crazy wing-nut alt right platforms and then wonder how they have alienated over half the voting population. They have primarily allied themselves with an ever shrinking white voting bloc and are afraid of the rest of the country. It needs to break apart and let the more rational conservatives reform as a different party.
15. Do you have any political New Year’s resolutions you plan to spring on us?
Nope.
16. Why don't more people eat poutine?
Tabarnak! That is a good question. I would say that many people are afraid either gravy or cheese curds.
17. “Election Day” is a song, do you like it?
Anything that is an offshoot of Duran Duran is good in my books.
18. Who is your favorite currently serving politician?
Al Franken, because he's good enough, smart enough, and gosh darnit, people like him.
19. Who is your all time favorite president?
As far as for getting shit done? FDR. As far as being a straight up bad-ass handler of the haters? Barack Obama.
20. Somehow, we decide we need new president faces on dollar bills. Who do you put on the 1, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 and why?
Okay… I am not limiting it to Presidents, because it should not be limited (that being said many will be), and I am assuming that this is a “must be changed” for all bills.
On the $1: William Henry Harrison - since the $1 dollar bill is becoming a coin, the president depicted on the bill should be a shortest serving president.
On the $5: Barack Obama - His presidency is directly related to the previous face on the 5
On the $10: Harriet Tubman - She is a badass of the highest order.
On the $20: FDR - Got us through the depression, and the $20 is called the Yuppie Food Stamp and it is fun to have FDR on the face of something that refers to one off his New Deal programs
On the $50: Albert Einstein - The $50 is a relatively high denomination bill
On the $100: Ronald Reagan - Trickle Down… trickle down.
To recap:
Voted early this morning
In and out in 30 minutes
7 screens of voting options
History is happening
It has been happening
It is always happening
Progress cannot be stopped overall
Because things keep moving forward
Happy election day, everyone!
Now I just have to wait to see how this all falls out
I think it will be a much stronger showing than what the predictions have been saying
It needs to be
I think there has been a very quiet majority of people who have just been waiting to vote and get it over with
The US plays Mexico on Friday for a World Cup Qualifier
Let’s get another Dos a cero!
Have a great week everyone