The vote

I voted today. By absentee ballot. I’m pretty sure that I haven’t voted by anything other than absentee ballot since my first election in 1998. I actually liked only 1 candidate on the entire ticket, the incumbent governor. The other guy running for governor drives me completely nuts. I honestly can’t imagine having him as my governor. Not only is he vicious and vindictive, but he probably has the worse PR ability of any politician I have ever seen. On the flip side, I don’t agree with everything that the incumbent has done. I would have liked to see him actually improve some of the transit options here. I would have even been willing to pay a bit more in a gas tax to improve roads and transit; however, he vetoed that particular bill. Overall though, I think he was a fantastic governor and I hope that he is able to serve another term.

It will be very interesting to see if this election “wave” that is being hyped in the news comes to pass. There is a high likelihood that the democrats will take at least the house this time around. I’m less inclined to think that they will take the senate, but you never know what might happen. The political blogs I read are split on the issue. The blogs I read tend to be more conservative in nature and even some of them are predicting a democrat takeover. It could be an exciting week.

I used to be of what is now considered a typical conservative Christian mind. Good Christians can ONLY be republican. How could you even consider agreeing with an evil democrat? I have definitely changed my mind on this issue. It’s pretty obvious that there is really not any logic at all in that thought process. I still consider myself a Republican, though I am much more moderate than all of my family and some of my friends. I honestly have no problem with the prospect of the democrats taking over the house or even the senate. It might bring about a little change and some accountability. I believe that power has gone to the republicans’ head and they need some time to reassess what they actually stand for. That is just my humble opinion of course.

There is a book I want to read called “The Myth of a Christian Nation - How the Quest for Political Power is Destroying the Church” by Greg Boyd. He shows how Jesus never really got involved in politics. He explains why he believes that evangelical Christians have been co-opted by the Republicans and how good morals have become synonymous with the Republican party only. From what I understand, that basic premise is that God is apolitical and that while we should be involved in the political process, religion and politics don't mesh. There are so many issues to work out that gay marriage and abortion should not be the only ones we focus on. He gave a sermon about this last year and 1000 people, or 1/5 of his congregation left. I also had a class from him at my undergrad before he left to devote himself full time to his pastorate. The class was amazing; this guy is an amazing speaker. It definitely sounds like an interesting book. I just wish I had more time to read books like that.

I probably shouldn’t blog about politics. It’s just liable to get me in trouble. Feel free to disagree with anything you read. I won’t hold it against you. I’m usually fairly vocal about my opinions, but I won’t begrudge you yours.