I voted

The line in El Reno on first day of early voting
The line in El Reno on first day of early voting

Today I took advantage of Oklahoma’s early voting opportunity. I went down to the Election Board for Canadian County and found a line. It took me about 50 minutes for the whole process, which is way longer than the other two times I’ve done early voting, but from what I hear, not nearly as long as today’s lines in Oklahoma City and Tulsa.

I voted for Obama/Biden. Andrew Rice. Jim Roth. Frankie Robbins. Consider these my endorsements, if anyone is looking for free advice on the matter. If one of them wins, I’ll be doing better than I usually do. If two win, it will be a lifetime achievement for a single election.

On the judicial retentions, I voted no on all except Colbert. He’s the only one I could find any reasonable info on with Google. African American, sounds reasonable in terms of background, i.e. no blatent nativist tendencies evident. For the others, I put my “toss incumbents out on principle” principle into play. This is probably not a good plan, but judges always get retained, don’t they? I wish they’d have to sweat it more. Lifetime appointments are a two-edged sword, in my opinion.

As for the state questions: I voted no on the vet’s exemption on property tax. I do think vets should get some breaks, but not clear on why this has to be in the state Constitution. No matter, this will pass overwhelmingly, so my dissent is meaningless. No also on the hunting thing, which is an NRA-sponsored solution to a problem that doesn’t exist. Yes on wine sales and yes on that procedural thing on property tax exemptions (I hope I understood that one right).

On a couple of other local races, I voted Democratic, although I don’t know anything about the candidates. I just went with the underdog party in a conservative state. I don’t like to do that; I guess I’m getting lazy in my old age.

Speaking of voting Democratic, I now have to decide whether to remain registered in the Democratic Party or go back to Independent. I usually go back after the primary, but this year I waited to consider my options after seeing how things turned out. I am seriously considering ending my quixotic Green efforts here in Oklahoma. I’m over 50, and if I stay here, which looks a lot more possible than I originally thought when I arrived in 2003, then organizing within the DP as a progressive Dem is not only the closest practical political goal, but also about the best use of my skills and time left on the planet.

Of course, it would be a lot easier decision if the state Dems could refrain from frequent outright hostility to each other, not to mention real and possible allies.