Be **really** careful with those little, tiny downballot races we all tend to ignore

How many will admit to voting for some downballot candidate by virtue of a guess at their ethnicity from their name? Or their gender? Or by selecting every other one on a list of "vote for three of the following"?

Those seemingly benign down ballot races are where people like Lady Blah Blah get their starts. She started out running for the local PTA.

Then there are the judges we get to vote for. Look into their backgrounds. Virginia's new right wing, misogynistic asshole governor is a graduate of Liberty University's (sometimes yes, sometimes not accredited) law school.

It is your duty to vote. It is also your duty to know for WHOM you are voting.

True enough, some candidates turn out to be very different from their campaign rhetoric, but if you look close, the clues are almost always there. And in these little, local races, very few can afford to construct the nationally successful "blank sheet of paper" image that allows the sheep to project anything onto them.




Remember, those downballot races are where the right wing religiocrazy hate mongers sent their storm troopers twenty years ago. We are paying today for our innocence then. The right wing does not fuck around.

not so far down ballot either (state Senate) I will be dead before I vote for him

of those down ballot races. Democrats, in these parts, do not vote down ballot.
Our '08 excellent congressional candidate, twice mayor, peak oil expert, environmental attorney, received 40% fewer votes than Obama. This year they will vote for governor, maybe lieutenant governor, senator and some of the propositions, then they will walk away.

The rethuglicans go through the ballot and vote for every R. And that is how we keep getting idiots representing us.

is because there were 17,000+ more votes for judges down ballot than there were in the national race. Since Democrats swept all those races, statewide, we're pretty sure the DRE's just erased straight ticket votes.

The thing was so egregious and right out in the open that we got 100% paper Opti-Scan ballots the next year. Yes, those counting machines can be hacked, but paper ballots can also be counted by hand if the theft is as obvious as it was in 2004.

There is NO WAY this state was going to put Stupid back into office.

DO vote down ticket. This is an example of why.

First, that people can't be bothered to vote in the fist place. (I tell them "It takes longer to take a crap than it does to vote.")

Second, that once they're there, they don't fill in the whole goddam ballot.

for ambitious fundies on the make. I find I'm pretty blind to ethnicity and even gender. I'm not blind to party and no GOP has a chance.

IIRC, they've already had some success in gaining control of some local school boards and town councils.

Their best chance of success is in low-turnout elections and those in which dems don't pay enough attention to the downballot.

Many don't campaign. At all. A statement in the voting pamphlet is it. Some don't even do that. I usually don't have any idea who some of the downballot candidates are going to be until I get my ballot.

I'm fortunate to live in a "vote by mail" state; I always get my ballot a few weeks before I have to return it. Once I see who is on it, I use that time to do my best to learn as much as I can before I make a decision.

unless they have made an effort for my vote( they never do). Judges, I vote no unless they make the effort , or at least put in a statement in the info pamphlet.I vote by mail, and no candidacy escapes at least a review. If I can I vote on every one,I will. Sometimes I will leave blanks but only after my process. If I see union organizer on occupation that is good enough , usually "Christian" or church affiliation draws a "no" Not perfect, but I try to fill in what I can

It can sometimes be difficult, in a conservative red area, to decipher the statements of non-partisan offices. I've had to get pretty good at recognizing "code."

They're easy to find, and their info is a big help with the obscure races.

Here, by the time all the mailers hit the mailbox a few days before the election, I've already mailed off my ballot. I can wait until the last minute and take it to a drop-off location, but I like to just stick a stamp on it, toss it in the mailbox, and be done.

Off to the Greatest Page.

Shit!

Now I got homework.

I hope you're happy now.

:fistbump: