My Plan May be in Jeopardy

I had it all planned out this year. Y'see, before I went to work for my boss, the County Auditor (a Republican), I had voted in only one primary--as a Democrat. Every primary since then, I had not voted for any party, preferring to remain as a registered independent.

But then, in '00, I voted for John McCain. At the time, I liked what he had to say (I've since come to realize the error of my ways.) So I became a registered Republican (GASP!) Thus was my mailbox opened to a flood of Republican fundraising solicitations, requests for votes from candidates, and, of course, that infamous survey--You know, the one that asks questions along the lines of "Do you support the war on terror, or are you a worthless traitorous terrorist?"

At any rate, in 2002, my boss was facing a primary challenge, so I was once again forced to vote in the Republican primary, since it's good to be able to say that you voted for the boss. And in 2004, when he ran for congress (and lost), I again voted for him in the Republican primary.

But this year, I planned to vote in neither primary, and to once again place myself back in the blissful, political-junk-mail-free-mailbox realm of the registered independent voter. My boss is not facing any challengers in the primary, so there WAS no reason to vote in it

But then, along came Ken Blackwell. Ohio's Secretary of State, he is running for Governor this year. And he stands more than a good chance of winning.

I can't begin to describe how much I hate this man. He, the man in charge of counting votes in the state, ran DUIbya's (tm) re-election campaign in Ohio. I mean, just how impartial can someone in that position be?

BTW, the Reform Ohio issues, one of which would have taken responsibility for vote counting out of his hands, went down to ignominious defeat last November. It was a stunning example of what can happen when no expense is spared to defeat something. It may also have been a stunning example of what lengths a Secretary of State would go to to retain his power. I'm just sayin'!

So I may have to vote in the Republican primary yet again, just to be able to say I voted against Blackwell twice. But, by doing so, I will once again subject my poor mailbox to two more years of assault from the Republican party.

I'm not sure it's worth it.