I voted. You should, too. You’ll feel better after you’re done…

Voting was fine. There were even some nice flowers in front of the community center. Another voter seems to be digging them in the background…

Sorry to be such a downer yesterday about the whole democracy thing. I was sounding a bit like Marvin the Paranoid Android with that headline.

I feel much better now that I’ve actually voted. I hope you will, too — or already do, assuming you’ve already done it.

I voted as I said I would. On governor, I voted again for James and Mandy, just because that was the only governor/lieutenant governor team I could think of that I could vote for. It didn’t quite work, though. I typed “JAMES SMITH/MANDY POWERS N,” and it wouldn’t let me type any more. I thought I’d mention it here as a statement of my intentions, in case we get into a challenging-the-count situation.

For the U.S. Senate, I voted for my wife. I didn’t consult with her in advance. I told her about it later as we were walking in the neighborhood. It didn’t faze her, being married to me and all. She asked, “Does that mean I get to move to Washington?” I said sure, and I’ll go up to visit and we can go see that great new exhibit I read about at the National Gallery, “Sargent and Spain,” which I see as an extension of that work of his I love that my granddaughters posed in front of when we were in Boston. So we have a plan, in case. It’s good to have a plan.

26 thoughts on “I voted. You should, too. You’ll feel better after you’re done…

      1. Brad Warthen Post author

        Gene Kelly always looked like he had fun making movies.

        This seems a good time to share one of my favorite YouTube videos ever. I’m not that big a fan of song-and-dance movies, but I’m impressed by the technical proficiency. It amazes me someone managed to do this, and it worked so well. I wish I had such video editing skills…

        Anyway, lots of Gene Kelly, having fun, in this…

  1. Bill

    The Youth Center!
    That was the first place I played piano in public,with a band,too(1970).
    We smoked a joint in the bathroom…

  2. Doug Ross

    Voted today for Cunningham, Lisa Ellis, and Tim Scott plus all non-incumbents for the Richland 2 School Board (read the IG report that came out yesterday on how dysfunctional, unethical they are)

    Voted against Joe Wilson — the second worst politician in SC after Lindsey Graham.

    Rest of the ballot was blank or, when available, third party candidates.

    I remember when The State endorsed candidates from either of the two parties because those were the only choices. Seems like a write in vote for Governor means those standards no longer apply.

    1. Brad Warthen Post author

      No, I sometimes wrote people in then. Personally.

      But yeah, endorsements were about choosing between the people on the ballot, since one or the other was going to hold the office — not about me and the personal statements I might choose to make.

      Also, we once endorsed a Libertarian, of all things, because the incumbent was such a poor choice.. Just FYI…

      1. Brad Warthen Post author

        You raise an interesting possibility, though. It’s not anything that ever happened in any race we were endorsing in, but it could have. And that might have been interesting.

        Nope, we never endorsed a write-in. But if we had been covering the contest for mayor of Spartanburg in 2002 — at least, I think that’s when it was (I didn’t learn about it until long after, since we didn’t cover Spartanburg mayoral races) — I certainly hope we would have endorsed Bill Barnet. He ran a last-minute campaign, and won, and from what I heard, he deserved to.

        Nothing like that ever came up among the races we covered in this part of the state…

    1. Brad Warthen Post author

      “No right mind person could oppose Herschel Walker and support John Fetterman.”

      So basically, you’re saying you can’t see the difference between a complete idiot, and an intelligent man experiencing a slight disability as a result of a stroke.

      Remind me, if I decide to run for anything, that I shouldn’t seek your vote. Not that I ever WILL run, but if I do, remind me…

  3. Doug Ross

    Betting markets for Tuesday’s elections indicate there could be a lot of unhappy people on this blog by Wednesday (unless Democrats can find some late votes). If this happens, look to the top of the party for someone to blame.

    2022 Midterms Outrights
    House and Senate control
    TUESDAY
    TRADED: $49,827
    R House / R Senate
    70.92%1.41
    R House / D Senate
    19.23%5.2
    CONTRACTS
    House of Representatives control
    TUESDAY
    TRADED: $43,646
    Republican
    91.74%1.09
    Democratic
    10.00%10
    Senate control
    TUESDAY
    TRADED: $46,116
    Republican
    69.44%1.44
    Democratic
    31.75%3.15

    1. Doug Ross

      The best thing that appears to be assured for Tuesday is that Nancy Pelosi will be out as Speaker. Hopefully this will be the last time we have to see her extreme partisan leadership. Time to go home and take care of her elderly husband.

      1. Brad Warthen Post author

        “extreme partisan leadership”

        Yeah, thank God there’s no chance of having any of that with Kevin McCarthy…

        You know, I didn’t much like Nancy Pelosi in her first round as speaker. But I really came to respect her in her second time around. She really worked hard, and often effectively, to provide rational leadership in a time in which the country was absolutely saturated with that extreme partisanship — whether she was dealing with the Republicans or AOC’s “Squad.”

        Like Joe Biden, she’s one of the people who, in the last few years, has bravely fought a losing, rear-guard action against the insanity.

        And I appreciate it…

        1. Doug Ross

          Kevin McCarthy will likely be just as bad as Pelosi has been. I can’t think of a single occasion where Pelosi made even the smallest effort to compromise. And her constant whining and fear mongering (while she and her husband get rich on insider stock trades) is despicable. She and Mitch McConnell have ruined this country,

        2. Barry

          Kevin is the guy that said it would be “hard not to hit her with it” when speaking about the Speaker’s gavel.

          Such an upright and upstanding SOB.

          But that is what some people want. They want someone like that and they will get it.

          We also have to realize that about 50% of our fellow American would cheer Kevin if he hit her in the head and split her skull with it.

    2. Barry

      I actually have mixed emotions.

      I often think people deserve what they vote for. For that to happen, their candidates have to win.

      In South Carolina, folks who are in immense pain or have spouses, moms, dads, children in immense pain due to disease that voted for candidates that area against medical cannabis – they are living with their decision when they could have made another choice.

      For those that are tired of inflation so they are voting for candidates that- in some cases- have said they will overturn the will of the voters in their own state in 2024 if the voters in their state don’t vote for the Republican candidate- maybe they deserve exactly that.

      But it won’t be on me. I’m not participating in the process in a state that would vote for a Republican candidate if he murdered a child on the street the week before the election. Those Conservative values…

  4. Barry

    no early vote for me and I will be out of town Monday – Wednesday.

    My wife is worried about the secretary of education race, and I told her it was already over and that I wasn’t going to vote. she was bummed knowing Waver will win easily (she doesn’t keep up with this garbage like i do) but she understands voting this year is a waste of time.

    She didn’t vote either and she’s agreed to join me on my out-of-town trip, so no votes from our family

    For those that do decide to vote I hope that no one runs into any violence issues or any armed people at the voting locations like what is happening in Arizona

    a friend called me today and said he observed/ overhead some folks today at his church calling public schools and teachers “evil” and “unchristian.”. The discussion then progressed to where some were calling parents “unchristian” if they don’t pull their children out of public school and homeschool. my friend kept quiet and was surprised enough to call me after he returned home to vent. i told him i was not surprised at all. I was surprised he was surprised.

    my wife quit her public school district last year and now works from home. the lack of support was way off the rails and is only getting worse with churches now jumping into the mess.

    1. Doug Ross

      There goes that man again with his anecdotes… millions of people have voted already without any incident. MILLIONS.

      1. Barry

        you often respond by twisting what was said.

        Millions have

        I didn’t predict a murder. I stated I hope no one was hurt with political violence given what we have seen in Arizona with armed people sitting near drop boxes.

  5. James Edward Cross

    Have voted! There was a glitch reading my driver’s license and they told me that I was in the wrong location. After I respectfully pointed out that my middle initial was “E,” not “D” they were able to ID the right me. Of course, I had my voter registration card with me and tendered that along with the license but apparently that document means less than nothing now.
    I did not vote in any race that where the candidate was unopposed. I had toyed with writing in the names of obscure 19th century serial killers to show my disdain, but because of the glitch more people had arrived behind me and since I’m a slow typist I decided to go with the other. Found it interesting that the poll workers did not suggest I check my ballot before I deposited it …. (yes, I checked it)
    Now, were my vote “wasted?” In the sense of changing the outcome, that’s probably the case (although I do have some faint hope for the local school trustee race). But if I don’t vote, I play right into the hands of the undemocratic forces out there. They don’t *want* people to vote … the lower the turnout (except for their base, of course) the better they like it. They *want* people to be disillusioned and no longer participating in the democratic process because it’s easier to get up to shenanigans if people are indifferent and not paying attention. Besides, the more people who say “my vote doesn’t count and isn’t going to change anything so I’m not going to vote,” the more that becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. At least if people vote they are shown the scale of opposition to their ideas, if nothing else. And if it’s close enough, it might even instill some caution (me being optimistic there).

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