The Grand -- If you cut me, I would shine. - the conversation i was having in my head

from what i've gathered from my non-working career for my entire non-existent adult life it seems that most employers would give you time off to vote. the last thing an employer wants is to have his organization in the news as the "vote suppressing" corporation. i may be wrong on this. actually, i probably am. nevermind.

regardless, charity, we all know who you are voting for. you have a degree in economics/community development. based solely on your economics training you are forced, by law, to follow the overwhelming advice of the wall street journal which is staunchly in favor of bush for no other reasons than his economic plan. when bush wins tonight i'm gonna light a $10,000 cigar with a hundred dollar bill and laugh at all of you over-taxed poor people.

Next door neighbors = best friends since 7th grade = also staunch Bush supporters. Hey, vote how you will! Considering I know marriages that are creaking under the political differences, I'm just glad JT and I are seeing eye to eye!

becca, it's time we dominated this comment board with our propaganda. vote badnarik! (libertarian)

charity fancies herself a thinking women. i fancy myself a reactionary, but that's just me. vote your conscience, or if you're like me and you don't have one, vote out of spite!

My employer is letting me off to vote--I thought that was unusual, but maybe not.

I am also surprised at people's guesses on who I'll vote for--perhaps "assumptions" would be more accurate than "guesses." My personal people for the most part assume that I'll vote Bush and my work people assume I'll vote Kerry. (Here's where I depart from Charity, I don't think it's because of anything I've said or written but rather just assumptions that people make based on what they think themselves.) In any case, the one thing I have decided is to adopt a no-telling policy on who I do vote for (a slight modification from my friend Beth's suggestion to "tell your Bush people you voted for Bush and tell your Kerry people you voted for Kerry").

And I realized earlier today that this will be the fourth (fourth!) presidential election I've voted in. Yikes! I'm OLD!

i voted about a week ago with an absentee ballot in this, my first opportunity to vote in the presidential election.

don't ask. don't tell.

this could be very helpful depending on who you're voting for and which state you live in.

drew, you seem to be getting more cynical by the minute. resist the covenant college cynical vortex!

rt, "vote how you will"? i like this new laid back approach you're taking to politics. maybe it's preparing you for the day when you and jt disagree. ;)

(I actually think if you don't vote like me you're headed to hell. But don't tell anyone!!)

I do think it's totally your own business who you end up voting for and if you don't want to share it, that's fine, too. One thing I think we should all be wary of, however, is being overly concerned with what others think of us when we vote for Bush or for Kerry. Heck, there are only two guys to vote for! It shouldn't brand you for life. CT & Renae, do you feel like you don't want to announce your vote because you're worried about how someone might label you?

"Heck, there are only two guys to vote for!" There were about 8 on the ballot I got. :)

RT, a good question, one I've actually been thinking about even before you asked. For me it's not so much about being labeled (though "what it is" is closely related). A label that is true as far as labels go--e.g., being an "editorial type," meaning being picky about things that matter to no one else--I wear with pride. A label that is false--e.g., being a "thistlebottom," meaning being anal about things that just. don't. matter--rolls off fairly easily. Same thing with political labels--call me liberal, call me conservative, call me confused--they don't bother me.

end part 1...to be continued

Oooh. I'm looking forward to part 2, 'Nae.

B, you got me! I thought about this fact after submitting that comment. : )

Hmm. Charity, given conversations from college and reading your blog, I kinda thought that you wouldn't vote for Bush, which doesn't necessarily mean voting for Kerry. I will admit my finger hovered over Nader and whoever was running for the "Worker's Party" just for the heck of it. (Doesn't it sound cool to say that you voted for the Worker's Party? Marxism has always been so romantic for me) But in the end I decided not to waste my vote.

I've been pretty much 'don't ask, don't tell' until I actually cast my vote. At that point, it doesn't really matter. I voted for Kerry.

I wondered who the guys listed as running for Pres/VP from Nebraska were... kinda considered voting for those two this time.