Voting and Elections--Misc. Thoughts

Yesterday I went and voted after work.

It always amuses me to see the options, at the beginning of the ballot, for a straight ticket. Even in the days when I considered myself Republican, and tended to vote a straight ticket, I still felt it was important for me to vote for each individual candidate.

Those days, of course, are long gone. I voted for Kinky Friedman for governor of Texas. I knew he wouldn't win, and honestly didn't expect him to get many votes at all.

I hoped that of the two major parties, the Democrat candidate would win. I was disappointed that he did not. Yes, Texas is stuck with Rick Perry for another four years. Surely no potential presidential candidate is stupid enough to select him as a running mate.

However, there were some (to me) encouraging results from the gubernatorial election. The independent candidates took approximately 31% of the vote between the two of them. Perry didn't win by as large a margin as he might have desired. It could be argued that a win is a win is a win. I disagree. This shows me that perhaps Texans are getting a little tired of the status quo. Perhaps we're ready to start thinking for ourselves.

Kinky, don't go anywhere. We're going to need you in another 4 years!