Yesterday I went to vote in the Democratic primary. I mostly went to vote for Obama, but I had also researched the other candidates on the Internet and decided who I would vote for on things like the Democratic nominee for US Senator and for various state offices, like Texas Supreme Court Place 7. The reality is that most of these Democrats will loose in the general election, but I tried to pick candidates who were both ideologically more to my liking, and also had electability. For some things, I just didn't vote. The Democratic Nominees for Texas Railroad Commissioner all seemed like environmentalists to me, so I left that section of my ballot blank. As a lawyer, I was also interested in the judicial candidates.
They tend not to say too much about what they believe in, other than vague generalities that nobody would claim to be against. Saying "I'm for justice." is about as useful as saying "I'm for breathing." It's what that candidate considers justice to be, and what concrete steps they would take to secure justice that really distinguishes them. The only judicial candidate that seemed particularly interested in talking specifics on his website was the Texas Supreme Court Place 7 candidate Baltasar D. Cruz. Some of his proposals for modifying the Texas Rule of Civil Procedure seemed sensible, and I wanted to reward him for talking specifics, so I voted for him, even though I didn't necessarily agree with all of his ideas. For US Senate, I voted for Rick Noriega because he seemed to be the most electable.
I arrived at the polling place around 10am, and waited about half an hour to vote. Then I left, worked all day, and came back at about 6:50pm for the caucus portion. The polling place for my precinct (number 219) was a rather small Methodist church. I had to drive to a post office several blocks away to park. I then walked to the church which had a long line of people out in the parking lot still waiting to vote in the primary portion. I went into the church cathedral, where the caucus portion was going to be held. Since most people were still voting in the primary, I easily found a seat, and then waited for about 3 hours. By the time they started handing out the sheets of paper where you put down your name and preference for President, the building was way over capacity. I filled out my information on the sheet, and my presidential preference, and then headed for the door. It was my understanding that once you had put down your preference on this piece of paper, you had effectively made your “second vote”, and that the rest of the meeting was just picking the actual delegates who would go to the next level of conventions. I had wanted to stick around to watch this portion of the meeting, but by then it was 10pm, and, as an independent voter, I figured I’d leave the rest of the meeting to the actual party people. I found the whole process very entertaining.
They tend not to say too much about what they believe in, other than vague generalities that nobody would claim to be against. Saying "I'm for justice." is about as useful as saying "I'm for breathing." It's what that candidate considers justice to be, and what concrete steps they would take to secure justice that really distinguishes them. The only judicial candidate that seemed particularly interested in talking specifics on his website was the Texas Supreme Court Place 7 candidate Baltasar D. Cruz. Some of his proposals for modifying the Texas Rule of Civil Procedure seemed sensible, and I wanted to reward him for talking specifics, so I voted for him, even though I didn't necessarily agree with all of his ideas. For US Senate, I voted for Rick Noriega because he seemed to be the most electable.I arrived at the polling place around 10am, and waited about half an hour to vote. Then I left, worked all day, and came back at about 6:50pm for the caucus portion. The polling place for my precinct (number 219) was a rather small Methodist church. I had to drive to a post office several blocks away to park. I then walked to the church which had a long line of people out in the parking lot still waiting to vote in the primary portion. I went into the church cathedral, where the caucus portion was going to be held. Since most people were still voting in the primary, I easily found a seat, and then waited for about 3 hours. By the time they started handing out the sheets of paper where you put down your name and preference for President, the building was way over capacity. I filled out my information on the sheet, and my presidential preference, and then headed for the door. It was my understanding that once you had put down your preference on this piece of paper, you had effectively made your “second vote”, and that the rest of the meeting was just picking the actual delegates who would go to the next level of conventions. I had wanted to stick around to watch this portion of the meeting, but by then it was 10pm, and, as an independent voter, I figured I’d leave the rest of the meeting to the actual party people. I found the whole process very entertaining.
