Election Day

I would like to take this opportunity to remind everybody to go out and vote in your local elections today.  Local elections probably have a more significant impact on your day-to-day life than federal elections so it really is kind of important to get out there.  I remind you to vote not because I believe there is any inherent civic virtue in voting.  Following politics is all well and good, but your average citizen doesn't have the time nor the inclination to really follow politics in an informed manner that would guide his/her vote.  But I remind my readers to vote because, let's face it, the majority of my readers (all 10!) are inclined to agree with me politically.

I already voted this morning and I have to say, it may have been the hardest vote of my life.  When it comes to local elections, I almost always vote for the Working Families Party endorsed candidate (which is usually the Democrat) because I want to send signals to the Democrats that there is value and votes to be found on the left of the centrist Democratic model of governance.  Anything that moves the party in a more populist direction is beneficial from both a political and public policy standpoint.  My vote for County Executive was very difficult this year though. The Democratic candidate for County Executive, Steve Bellone, ran a campaign solidly to the right of the Republican candidate, campaigning exclusively on reducing the size of government and cutting taxes. In fact, he ran so far to the right that my own union endorsed Angie Carpenter, the Republican candidate for Suffolk County County Executive. This put me in a tricky position, as it is pretty clearly in my personal interest to vote for Carpenter, who is much more likely to protect my job. Of course, I have proven time and time again that voting against my personal financial interest is not really a problem for me. But I was torn.  I hate voting for Bellone, though I think he'll be a better County Executive (simply by virtue of being a Democrat and caring about government effectiveness in general), but running a campaign like he did does very real long-term damage to the Democratic brand, painting government as a problem when it really is a solution to many of our current ills.  Anyway, I had to hold my nose and vote for one of these candidates.  I won't tell you which one (Boo! Cop-out!), because I hope to work for in the county executive's office in a civilian (not politically-appointed) position in the near future. But commenters are free to weigh-in.