First and Foremost

For years I tried, never successfully. I planned, I resolved, I did everything within my power to make it happen. Triumph was elusive. The day came when I simply assumed it wasn't in the cards. It wasn't meant to be. Then, out of the blue and totally unexpected, it happened.

I was the first voter in my precinct on Election Day today, a primary election here in Michigan.

During my usual morning walk I figured I'd vote before opening the Shop. It would be easy enough as the polling place is literally across the street. So at the end of my daily constitutional (I have to slip a political reference in on an election day, you know) I went over to vote. And I was number one, numero uno.

Perhaps not trying is the secret of success.

How to Vote, August 2014

Today is a primary election day in Michigan and many other states. While we can't speak for all things everywhere, we thought it might be generous to offer a few bits of advice on how to vote just the same. Some ideas are general and some are specific, but hopefully they help a bit.

The more local an election is the more important your vote becomes. Don't be too concerned over a Congressional election or a statewide race because we all know that, within reason, your vote won't matter. Most statewide races will have too many votes cast to make a difference and larger districts are gerrymandered so that they will almost certainly go one way come November so that whomever wins today won't matter. Yet the votes closer to home, especially things such as a county commissioner and city councils in smaller cities, naturally mean more. A few select votes may in fact matter, and many political careers are born through lesser offices. Choose wisely there, for toady and the future.

If your primary is a foregone conclusion, then vote in the other party's. It's great fun in a childishly evil way, and if the parties are stupid enough to have open primaries then they deserve to bitten through such tactics. Vote for the person you feel would most help your party in November just for the fun of it. It's passive/aggressive excitement!

Don't worry about judgeships, except the most local ones as reflected upon above. On the big issues they aren't to to rule they way you want them too anyway, seeing as even legal institutions aren't very concerned with law so much as reflecting what they perceive to be the general societal norms of the day. On the obvious issues of guilt and innocence they likely will do the right thing just the same as well. Don't fret judicial elections.

Vote for Proposal 1. The personal property tax on small businesses is a nuisance, and unfair. Yes, as per our instructions, this being a statewide initiative means your vote won't matter. Vote on that anyhow. One can't cast ballots for fairness too often.

There you have it. Look for our sage wisdom again in November and as for today, you're welcome.

Vote Anyway

We are less than one hundred days from what might be a paradigm shifting election. Based on the polls and the number of Democrats running for cover (and on the amount of fund raising President Barack Obama is doing) the left is on its heels. To be sure, three months is a long time in politics and a lot can happen. A world event or some unpredictable calamity might reshape the electoral landscape or, each election being local, a line of individual candidates might manage to rework that landscapes into their personal favor. But today, it looks good for the GOP. But all you conservatives out there, remember: you still have to vote. Your vote matters.

We know that one vote rarely makes a difference. Common sense says as much. Honestly, how often in our nation's history has one vote really mattered? Not very, if at all. And there are great temptations not to vote, not the least of which are that a given election may be a foregone conclusion. They aren't necessarily; can you say Thomas Dewey?

Then there's the idea that it is a good and necessary thing to exercise your rights, even when they seem unneeded or, perhaps, pointless. You're exercising your rights when you walk into the restaurant of your choice, aren't you, when that choice really isn't particularly important, is it? No one would tell you that it's okay not to eat there that basis. But at the heart of it, that choice is a reflection of a very important right. Why treat your vote as less important?

And as always, there's the ages old saw about what if everyone thought like you? What if everyone quit voting because their single little tally meant relatively little? We shouldn't have to finish that thought. You know where it goes and we know how trite it sounds. Still, if you don't use your rights well someone will use them for you. You will get the government you deserve.

So vote, even if it doesn't mean much. The practical implications will certainly be small. The symbolic implications, however, will be a great victory for the individual.

August Primaries

Today is a primary election day throughout Michigan if not most of the nation. But what are we deciding? The answer to that depends on which part of the state you live in.

In Detroit proper, there isn't much to consider if you're a Republican. Outside of the race to challenge Debbie Stabenow for her US Senate seat, there's nothing. Even that seems little to be excited over, for although some pollsters see Clark Durant making a last second surge towards Peter Hoekstra it isn't likely he'll overtake him. Hoekstra's lead is significant, and his support comes from western Michigan where voters take primaries more seriously. Still, Durant is a better conservative choice than Hoekstra, so we think he deserves a vote.

In the two Congressional Districts which include Detroit, John Conyers will win by default and Gary Peters will serve to dilute minority clout in Congress despite his being a Democrat. Yet he will not be criticized for that choice. Democrats can't be racist, you know.

We expect each incumbent in Michigan to win their congressional primaries and almost certainly the general election. The only movement will be in Thaddeus McCotter's old district, where McCotter manged to stupidly shoot himself in the foot. That one will be interesting in November, depending especially on whether the only Republican on the ballot, Kerry Bentivolio, can withstand a write in challenge from Nancy Cassis. Seeing as this is a primary, Cassis stands a chance if GOP voters aren't lazy.

There will be issues on the ballot beyond candidates for office. Our advice, at least for Detroit area conservatives, is vote against them. All of them, no matter what. There are too many liberal voters who will vote for spending renewals and increases anyway, so simply as a protest, vote against them. It is that kind of nickel and dime government which causes most government spending troubles, particularly on things such as libraries are arts councils. Most of the people who vote for them don't use them. They are knee jerk votes at best. You can almost hear the thought process of the typical voter in the voting booth: 'Uh, yeah, books are good, libraries have books, and art is kinda cool too, so what the hey, I'll vote yes.' They are nothing more than shallow votes for things government should not be involved in. The arts in particular; if they can't support themselves they should not be kept afloat by tax money. Other folks' idea of culture should not be propped up with your cash.

So that's it. Vote Republican and vote against taxes, new ones but even renewals. That's the best statement you can make with your ballot this August 7th, 2012. We'll see you in November.