November 8th, 2006 | Uncategorized
Here are campaign signs against the spine of the Green Mountains at dusk. That’s not the moon on the right, but a stop sign. Stop the madness.
I’m happy to report that Vermont’s rabid socialist congressman Bernie Sanders is going to the Senate. I love this state.
Here’s my paper ballot, and the little tag that says I’m the 381st voter.
15 Responses to “”
KUDOS to Vermont, who not only elected Bernie but also elected a Democrat to replace him.
And I have just two words to keep repeating:
SPEAKER PELOSI!!!!
I love the little blue dog tag! In my county (in California), we get little stickers to wear that say “I voted.” More generic, and not nearly so keepsakey, but I think it helps noodge people to vote.
Keeping my fingers crossed that our new congress will actually be able to accomplish something!
I met a dean in Burlington, who had previously been at Penn. He said “when I was a dean at Penn I was going crazy because I couldn’t even get our Rep. to come to important dinners with industry leaders. Now I run into our senator in the grocery store.”
PS I guess I shouldn’t have complained about having to dump my vote in such a blue state that it does little good — MA have elected only the second black governer in the nation “since the reconstruction” (does that mean “ever”?), and actually we hardly ever elect Dems for governer so that’s doubly impressive. Also, one day (if we’re unlucky) I may have to vote in support of same-sex marriage — though so far the legislature has been defeating efforts to get an ammendment changing the law put through. But I think if there is an ammendment proposed to the MA constitution it goes to the voters before it’s ratified. I know the whole process takes a minimum of 4 years, and I don’t think it’s been succesfully started yet.
The turnout was phenomenal, too. Down here in Guilford,
(population KUDOS to Vermont, who not only elected Bernie […]
The guy he beat (Rich Tarrant) spent over $6mil of
his own money, making the race the most expensive
per capita in the country. (They’re referring to
it as “the most expensive campaign ever lost”.)
> […] but also elected a Democrat to replace him.
Vermont politics is interesting all around. The
loser in the US Representative race was Martha Grainville
an anti-war Republican who used to be head of the
Vermont National Guard (btw, in Vermont that is
an _elected_ office.)
> And I have just two words to keep repeating:
> SPEAKER PELOSI!!!!
And depending on how the elections in Montana and Virginia
turn out, maybe we can chanting:
PRESIDENT PELOSI, 2007!!
I see that for some reason my posting above got
rather badly mangled.
I won’t bother typing it back in. So just pretend
it was as witty and well-written as the other posts
here.
😉
I voted and gave a friend a ride to the polls – can you see my halo? And paper ballot, by all means – but I didn’t get the spiffy little tag Alison did, just the usual sticker.
Jaibe, Deval Patrick’s win as Governor of Massachuseets makes him the *second* Black governor of the state because MA did have a Black governor during Reconstruction. That was one of the reasons Reconstruction was shut down, was that African Americans were being voted in as representatives, Senators, officeholders, etc, including in the South. Because god forbid people of color gain any leadership or power! yadda yadda.
Does that blue tag correspond to a number on the paper ballot itself?? In other words, could you actually track your ballot by showing that blue tag? In North Carolina and Arkansas, we use optical scan machines to read paper ballots, but I’m a suspicious woman by nature. I guess the tags could be color coded by precinct, etc…
Maybe the tag identifies you as a Blue Dog Democrat.
Just to clarify a bit:
Deval Patrick is the second black elected as a govenor
in _American_ history (not merely MA).
The first black elected governor was Lawrence Douglas Wilde
of Virginia, elected in 1989.
You guys have a socialist senator!?! *pouts with jealousy*
Yep, Deval is the 2nd Black governor to be elected in the US. Although, it’s unbelievable, it’s true. The reference to reconstruction I believe refers to P.B.S. Pinchback who was *appointed* to serve as governor of LA (not MA) for a month while the elected governor was impeached. He didn’t win election. Not sure where you got the fact that MA had a black governor, if you go to the State of Mass website, their photo gallery of governors shows a WHOLE lot of old, white guys. Ironically, Jane Swift, the only woman, has a dead link to her photo!
Yay! The photos are back!
Somehow, it isn’t quite right for Alison to post text-only (even if it’s just one word).
I was busy at school yesterday during the state house rally in MA (I was about two blocks away and frustrated, but couldn’t get over there). I made sure to thank the three elderly Unitarian allies from Carlisle whom I met on the subway afterwards for holding signs on behalf of me and my family. It looks like the right thing will happen for civil rights here and hopefully elsewhere, over time.
You got a TAG for voting? How’d the rabies shot go? Jeez this country is freaking insane. But I love that Bernie’s going to the Senate — as we said in VT when I was growing up there: WICKED DECENT!!!!!!! Aloha, HLM