I voted this morning. Riding my power chair into the senior apartment complex recreation room is election central for my precinct.
I glanced over the crowd of 16 precinct volunteers and observers. None of my compatriots were in the voting booth. So, I decided to announce my grand entrance.
“Where’s the redneck desk?”
A young precinct worker giggled. The others snarled.
In this section of southern Riverside County, Calif., a registered Democrat is an endangered species and about as popular as our resident Muslims.
The county Registrar of Voters came prepared. Three old ladies manned the Democratic registration sign up desk. Eight held fort at the Republican table.
When I signed the dotted line, I noted I was voter No. 18. It was 10 a.m. and the polls opened at 7. There are 442 tenants in my senior apartment house of laughs and daily ambulance calls and I suspect a thousand or more in the nearby neighborhoods within the precinct. It must be a diverse lot because the signs in front of the palace for seniors announced “Vota Aqui.”
As the 18th voter, naturally my political instincts kicked in, reminding myself of the Republican tsunami about to take place.
My precinct and my congressional district is so gerrymandered that a Democrat has as much chance of winning as he does the megabucks lotto. Being that what is may, the Democratic challengers are not the brightest bulbs in the room.
Now, I take my voting franchise seriously. I vote the top of the ticket down but stop at the city and special district races which I neither care or know anything about. I’m only a visitor and don’t care to intrude.
After voting for governor and U.S. Senator, the choices become bizarre. I mean we have people from both parties running for secretary of state and treasurer who campaigned for jobs jobs jobs. Those two elected positions have as much impact on the job market as the coyote catching the road runner. Beep beep. But, I digress.
The incumbent congressman in my district is Darrell Issa, a hard worker and major pest for his robo calls to constituents and first in line to launch investigations against the Democrats in Congress in his expected new role as chairman of the government oversight committee. His Democratic challenger must have had a campaign budget of three cents. Never heard from him or of him and it possibly could have been a she for all I know.
California’s bevy of state propositions are always fun. I voted for the marijuana initiative just for the joy of watching it play out. I say if we are going to tax, by golly tax the potheads.
Only in California are propositions in November that would nullify/ratify propositions approved by voters in the June Primary. That would be Props 20 and 27.
But the one I found a true test of voter I.Q. testing is Prop. 24 which was sold as the jobs initiative by giving tax breaks to a selected small group of large corporations at the expense of every other business in the state. I voted no, for what’s that worth.
Unlike more than two thirds of all registered voters in the United States, I can make the claim I voted. Think about it. Less than one third of us can dictate the future for all.
That’s sick.
Cross posted on The Remmers Report
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Jerry Remmers worked 26 years in the newspaper business. His last 23 years was with the Evening Tribune in San Diego where assignments included reporter, assistant city editor, county and politics editor.