Sometimes ignorance is strength

Now that election addicts have nothing to talk about but each other, I can come out of the closet as a Low Information Voter.

This thing started two years ago, mostly as a sideshow. There were no less than 20 people running for president. Some of them were Serious, some of them were laughable. Tancredo alternately pissed me off and made me laugh with his chutzpa. Ideal job? President! Hey, that's why I'm here!

I actually laughed when Obama said he'd meet with Iran's president (no, I don't feel like looking up the spelling - low information, remember?). I thought at the time it was a great way to get attention. There were still so many people running at the time that it made him stand out, if only at the bottom of a dogpile. Bad publicity is good publicity.

So, I missed a lot of stuff. Stuff that didn't even matter in the end.

"Low-inf", though, doesn't necessarily translate to "not paying attention". Not voting is considered a dereliction of duty in my family. Voting without having your facts straight is just as bad a sin.

Know what you want, and how they match up. So I took this little test:

From here:

Here's how it works, if you want to know. If you agree with a candidate, he gets point(s). If you disagree, take point(s) away. Unkown/other results in no points. The number of points given or taken depends on the weight you set. "Meh" is worth 1 point, "important" 2, and "key" is worth 5. The items you disagree about will be listed directly underneath each candidate (if they score greater than zero).

And the results:

Kucinich 71 No Child Left Behind, Border Fence
Gravel 68 (you have no disagreements with this candidate)
Obama 46 Patriot Act, Border Fence, Iran Sanctions, Same-Sex Marriage
Edwards 42 Death Penalty, No Child Left Behind, Patriot Act, Iran Sanctions, Iran - Military Action, Same-Sex Marriage
Clinton 39 Death Penalty, No Child Left Behind, Patriot Act, Border Fence, Iran Sanctions, Iran - Military Action, Same-Sex Marriage
Richardson 38 Death Penalty, Assault Weapons Ban, Patriot Act, Iran Sanctions, Iran - Military Action, Same-Sex Marriage
Biden 38 Death Penalty, No Child Left Behind, Patriot Act, Border Fence, Iran Sanctions, Same-Sex Marriage
Dodd 37 Death Penalty, No Child Left Behind, Patriot Act, Border Fence, Iran Sanctions, Iran - Military Action

Paul 19 Abortion Rights, Embryonic Stem Cells, ANWR Drilling, Kyoto, Assault Weapons Ban, Guns - Background Checks, Citizenship Path for Illegals, Border Fence, Net Neutrality, Minimum Wage Increase, Same-Sex Marriage, Universal Healthcare
Cox -15
McCain -29
Thompson -30
Giuliani -37
Brownback -41
Huckabee -54
Tancredo -64
Romney -69
Hunter -82

So I definitely knew who I wouldn't be voting for.

Picking out who I would vote for was harder. In my "gut" I was mostly stuck between Edwards and Richardson early on. Clinton had lost me a long time ago with her triangulation and deeply entrenched position in the "Strategic Class" - too close to the money. I had the same beef with her that I had with Mr. Clinton - "Stand for something!" was my usual complaint. Kucinich is an easy vote in the primaries, because hey, Texas isn't a swing state, so let's bump up the issues for a change, eh?

Edwards had spent the last four years talking up the "Two Americas" as part of the 50-state plan (all hail Howard Dean, y'all). Richardson had actually been (hell, still is) an executive. He'd also had real, actual foreign policy experience.

Gravel I knew nothing about, and for me was "meh". No disagreements doesn't mean agreement. He didn't capture my attention at all. Same with Biden.

Obama? Roll eyes, hard. I think the exact quote I used at the time was "pretty boy". If I objected to Clinton on the "what has she done in the Senate, really?" then all of that applied twice as hard to him.

So, on to the races. People dropped out quickly and faster than anyone had anticipated. I wasn't sorry to see Giuliani (9/11!) Or Fred Thompson (he was awful on Law & Order, too. I stopped watching) go. I was sorry to see Kucinich drop out early. I was intrigued by the Obama endorsement, but still thought he was too new.

Edwards dropped out. Then Richardson. Well, so much for that. This is how we get the best of the best?

Then it was primary time in Texas. '04 was the first time I'd ever voted in a primary. Well, I wasn't holding my nose but I was crossing my fingers for luck. Obama. More against Clinton, really.

We flipped a coin and my husband got to try to caucus, but couldn't get there before the doors closed. It was chaos central according to one person who was there but had to leave early.

Sooooo, horse race horse race. Lawyers doin' stuff, deals being made. Hey, endorsements from Edwards and Richardson. Oooh, Michigan and Florida. You know they're going to be let in. Like wayward children out past curfew, they'll be grounded for a while but let back in the house.

And on this side we have McCain? How the heck did that happen? Well, whatever. Even if I don't like Clinton, I'm sure not voting for this guy. He was admirable in 2000, and McCain Feingold was really something, but not now, man. You sold your soul. And Palin? Hell, no.

So, onto the real race, the debates, and whatnot. I'm starting to like this Obama guy, and start reading up on him. Well, shit. Can't hurt, might help. And here we are.

The one time I got emotional was when I saw Jesse Jackson in tears at Grant Park. I remember his '88 run, and I was finally old enough to vote. I spent the summer talking politics with my dad, like a real grownup, and we were both disappointed that he didn't make the ticket. He forged the path, and there's nowhere to go but up.