Primary night

So today is Primary Day, and I am doing what I have done every such day for 39 years- nothing.


NOTHING?

Nope.  When I got my first registration, I registered Independent.  My Dad said, "We're Democrats."  I said, "Maybe YOU are..."

You see, I had this dream back then, that our leaders were basically good people who built platforms based on the best interests of We The People. I believed that if I studied each person, found out what they were about, I would have a better ballot than blindly voting party lines.


That myth pretty much got shattered by the middle of Evan Bayh's first term as governor (AKA my third time voting, back in '88).  Since then, I may have voted for 2 Democrats, held my nose at several Republicans, missed the Dole/Clinton bout due to car problems, and wrote in Bo Gritz during Clinton/Bush Sr.  But no primary.

And I asked myself today, why is that?  Is a sense of not being controlled for a party I by and large vote for anyway more important than being a Dem long enough to vote for Tommy Schrader against Tom Henry?

Tommy Schrader: homeless man and perennial Democrat challenger for whatever office is up for grabs

Or perhaps it's plausible deniability:  It won't be MY fault I have to vote for John Crawford in the general, YOU boobs put him in it over Tim Smith!  That was especially effective during the Matt Kelty disaster.


Or maybe, fratricidal infighting just isn't as much fun as "Sticking it to Hillary/Bernie/Bill/Barack, etc."  If I'm gonna vote for the guy who wins anyway...


During the last primaries, I kept shaking my head.  I'd watch the debates, carefully consider the answers, and when they'd run the "who do you think won" polls, I'd vote for the one I chose, expecting others would do the same.  And each time, Trump and his 'Lyin Ted' and 'littile Marco' and a plethora of other insults- which IMHO detracted from his stands, which I supported- not only won, but run away and hid.

And I remembered the "good old days" when everyone would get together at the convention and hammer out the platform they would run on, and everyone would have a voice- even if it was screaming.  Drama, comedy, serious discussion.


That ain't what it is now.  And to be honest with you, my better question is, if I was about to register as an 18-y-o newbie today- would I even bother?

So I'll see you in November.  But tonight, I'm gonna live off a little nostalgia for the days when there was a choice between parties, a chance I might flip from election to election.  Anyone else miss Ed Muskie?