Tfgray’s Weblog

Sometimes, reading political commentary, I think back to an early review of the Harry Potter movie, in which the writer chortled that it would be very weird to watch “an 18-year-old Daniel Radcliffe play Harry Potter in the seventh movie,” apparently not having done the basic homework of finding out that the characters age a year in each book as they progress through the Hogwarts curriculum. Today’s gem was the notion that by choosing Rahm Emmanuel as Chief of Staff, Obama was going with a Left-wing Clintonite Washington-insider agenda. Basic homework again. Rahmbo has represented Chicago in the House of Representatives since 2002 and their families (yes, that includes wives and kids) are friends.

So, like, if even that guy can make predictions, why not me? Here they are:

• John McCain will position himself as the go-to guy for the moderate wing of the Republican Party. Lindsay Graham has already positioned himself as wingman, and I suspect that Lieberman will offer himself as Third Musketeer.
• If Ted Stevens is dumped (and they don’t find the missing ballots in Anchorage that might conceivably go to Mark Begich) Sarah Palin will run for the Senate. The fact that she said she wouldn’t is proof enough for me.
• The rightward edge of the Republican Party will become a dogfight between the Social Conservatives and the NeoCons. If Palin makes it to the Senate, the SDs will coalesce behind her, if not, Huckabee. The NeoCons, not having realized that the rest of the country thinks they are criminally insane, will try at least one highly dramatic legislative stunt, which will backfire. It is also possible that the SDs will also try at least one highly dramatic legislative stunt, to similar effect.
• The moderates will stay out of the dogfight, cut deals with Obama, and wait until things sort themselves out before aligning with the winning faction.
• We will make more progress toward developing alt energy and solving global warming in the next 8 years than in the last 30.
• Someone will notice that Sarah Palin talks more than Joe Biden and call her on it publicly.

It’s 9:20 pm here, and I just watched the coverage of midnight voting in Dixville Notch, NH. 21 votes cast: 6 McCain, 0 Nader, 15 Obama. A good omen.

They filed past, dropped their ballots in the box, and in less than 10 minutes it was all over. As you may have noticed, things won’t go this smoothly in most of the country.

I have a suggestion to pass along to you. Out here in Oregon, we vote by mail.

Yup. a month before the election, they send out booklets with all the info: candidates, propositions, zoning changes, bond issues, you name it. A week later, a second booklet arrives, chock full of position papers by the supporters and opponents of the various propositions. One week after that? Your Paper Ballot. Once you’ve finished your decision-making process, you MAIL IT IN, or, if you prefer, run by the local election board office or public library. You’ve got until election day.

That’s it. No muss, no fuss, no lines, no time off from work, no BS about Democrats voting on Wednesday, or getting arrested at the polling place for a traffic ticket. No high-pressure snap decisions in the little booth. NO DIEBOLD.

 Here are some links:

http://www.sos.state.or.us/executive/votebymail/

http://www.co.multnomah.or.us/dbcs/elections/election_information/voting_in_oregon.shtml

Consider starting a petition, writing your Congressman, making some changes that would make Democracy work so much better.

psst…tell your friends.