Vote By Mail!

[With yesterday's Democratic primaries in Kentucky and Oregon, it's time to rehash one of my previous letters to the editor. This appeared in Madisonville's The-Messenger in 2006.]

Imagine having no excuse to not vote in an election and knowing that your vote would be counted and verified if necessary.

In recent elections, allegations of fraud have been rampant. Reports of voters being alienated from specific polling locations and problems with electronic touch screen voting machines were not uncommon. In some places, a voter would attempt to vote for a candidate, only to see the opposing candidate’s name appear on the screen as his or her choice.

Voting by mail is the answer to many of the problems voters express they have with traditional voting and increases voter turnout. About two weeks before an election, every registered voter would be mailed a ballot to his or her home. During this time, voters would choose the candidate that they wished to vote for, and simply mail back the ballot or drop it off at a designated area.

We have all heard the reasons that people use when they do not vote in an election, and they are credible. Perhaps they had to work, were busy with their families, had no transportation to the polling place, or had no desire to travel long distances to wait in line. These all lead to lower voter turnout. In the 2008 Democratic primary election (May 20), around 43% of eligible voters in Kentucky actually cast a ballot. While in Oregon, which has mostly voted by mail since 1998, a resounding 69% of voters did.

With voting by mail, voters would have plenty of time to cast their ballots, fraud would decrease by signing the ballot and the presence of a paper trail, and Kentuckians would have more faith in the nation’s elections.

Economically, voting by mail is more cost efficient to the community. In Oregon, the average cost for an election is 30% lower than it is for a traditional one. This would save our commonwealth as well as the taxpayers money.

However, perhaps the best reason to bring voting by mail to Kentucky is that it would simply bring about more democracy. When more citizens vote, the government is more representative of we, the people.

[For more information on voting by mail, check out the Vote By Mail Project.]

Bring On The General!

Well, that was fun. My two votes today (the "Thank You" to Senator Edwards and the "Anti-Iraq War" to Kenneth Stepp) did not amount to much, as expected. Oddly enough, about 14,000 other Kentuckians joined me in still voting for John Edwards in the presidential primary. Perhaps Mr. Stepp should seek a lower level office (State House, Senate?) next time instead.

Hillary may have won the primary here in the Bluegrass, but I'm already undergoing training to become an official Obamabot. Tonight he won a majority of the "pledged" delegates. Democrats around the country, and Kentucky, must now start to realize something (if they haven't already): Obama will be the nominee.

Bruce Lunsford finally won a Democratic nomination and will be the man to take on Senator Mitch McConnell in November. No matter anyone's personal feelings about Lunsford during the hotly contested primary, now is the time to come together and unite around the common goal of ditching Mitch. Hopefully Bruce shows no mercy on McConnell.

Despite being outfunded by his opponent Reid Haire, State Senator David E. Boswell won the nomination to battle Republican Brett Guthrie in the Second Congressional District. Democrats, including myself, would love to turn that district blue again.

KET's official coverage of the election made an interesting point tonight: By choosing to run against incumbent Ed Whitfield, the candidacy of Democrat Heather Ryan may actually help down ticket Republicans (namely in the Winters-Hubbard State Senate race) as the GOP turns out to back "Exxon Eddie" this fall. However, getting pissed off Democrats to turn out the vote against Whitfield would certainly counteract such a backlash.

All in all, a good primary election. The real fun begins now with the general election campaign!

[Special thanks to all the idiots in Clay County for making Kentucky look even more ignorant than usual on national television today. When fancy CNN came to town to give them coverage, the yokels could only talk about how voting does not matter and that a woman's place is in the home.]

Breaking News: Bill Clinton Still Awesome

Even though his wife (website) may have no chance at winning the Democratic nomination, President Clinton revealed today in my native Madisonville that he is indeed still awesome.

Speaking at a podium placed in the bed of a pickup truck (we Kentuckians can really appreciate someone that understands the importance of trucks), President Clinton did his usual thing at a Solutions for America event: being funny, speaking well, and making women faint.

Bubba did well and was kind enough to shake not one of my hands, but both of them simultaneously. Good man, good man.

I'm Still Voting For Edwards

Next week, on May 20, I'm marching right into that election booth and doing something that has repulsed me when others have done so: I'm throwing my vote away.

On January 30, two days after a great event in Nashville, former Senator John Edwards suspended his bid for the presidency. After disappointing showings in the early contests, the man who had my full and vigorous support stepped aside for the sake of history.

Since then, the ongoing battle between Senators Obama and Clinton has done little to motivate me into supporting either of them. Dedicated Edwards supporters like me find both Obama and Clinton to be extremely talented and qualified. It's great to know, no matter the nominee, we Democrats win in November.

However, one issue causes me to accept no substitutes: Poverty.

We've all heard the statistics. Yet while we may become accustomed to the numbers, the real pain is felt everyday:

"Tonight, 47 million Americans will go to bed knowing that if their child gets sick, they’ll have to go to the emergency room and beg for health care. Tomorrow morning, 37 million of our own people will wake up literally worried about feeding and clothing their own children. Tonight, 200,000 men and women who wore our uniform proudly and served this country courageously as veterans will go to sleep under bridges and on grates. We’re better than this. The United States of America’s better than this."

-- Senator John Edwards

For Senator Edwards, ending poverty remains the cause of his life.

My vote for him on the 20th may not amount to anything other than an asterisk in the elections records. For me, it's a way of saying thanks to a man that lifted himself out of poverty to try and help lift a nation.

[Senator Edwards' campaign to end poverty continues with the recent start of Half In Ten: From Poverty to Prosperity, a program dedicated to cutting poverty in half in ten years.]

Warren O. Stone Receives Props, Compliments

Major props go out to Warren O. Stone (website), a candidate for the 4th District Congressional race up in northern Kentucky.

Stone is running to replace incumbent Representative Geoff Davis on the Republican side. Yes, you may ask why a self-professed Democrat is giving props to a Republican. The truth is, Stone’s views and positions challenge our self-conceived images of what a traditional Republican or Democrat should be.

Here’s why Stone gets props:

While most Republicans today seem to jump at the chance to profess an undying love for the war in Iraq, Stone was against it from the beginning. In an email sent to yours truly, he writes:

"Why are we staying in Iraq and how can anyone say that if we leave now we will have lost? The likely answer can be gleaned from the latest press release coming from the Pentagon. Five billion dollars are being released to fund the reconstruction of the Green Zone to build luxury hotels and a resort in Baghdad. This is what we are up against, it is safe to surmise that those who will receive hundreds of millions in profits from these and other undertakings in Iraq, are pressuring Washington to stay in Iraq as long as possible, so that their profits will continue to roll in. This is only one example of many. Lobbyists are pressuring Congress continually to spend, spend, spend; we are now 9.4 Trillion in debt with that sum rising daily."

Along with Stone’s understanding that the war in Iraq should be concluded, he grasps the common sense notion that too many politicians are beholden and influenced by big money. Stone presents himself as a man with no ties or “strings attached” to contributors.

Check out the full email here.

SexyPolitics Makes A Bill Clinton Out Of Us All

Who would have thought those countless hours of watching CNN would pay dividends like this?

On SexyPolitics, the politically perverted will find both their need of political trivia and seeing girls naked met. The site provides a series of quizzes (ranging from presidential candidates to specific issues of today) and with each correct answer, those clothes come off faster than a Fischer attack ad from Youtube.

The great thing about SexyPolitics is not just the striptease premise (okay, actually it is) but also the awesome stuff you can get with the points. Hilarious shirts, thought provoking books, and even a personal call from Mr. Belding (Dennis Haskins) await the informed.

Like a loser that spends way too much time at the local arcade, I challenge anyone to top my coveted high score on the Iraq quiz (176,355).

SexyPolitics should be mandatory testing material for kids starting in the sixth grade. When it comes down to it, there is no better teacher than Rebecca in her publicist outfit. Well, maybe Rebecca out of her publicist outfit.

Fischer Ad May Yield Unexpected Results

Here's a story we've all heard 3.4 million times:

Bruce Lunsford lost the Democratic nomination for Governor of Kentucky in 2003 thanks in majority to a series of negative ads ran by his opponent, Ben Chandler. When it was all said and done in the primary, Chandler won. In a move he now regrets, Lunsford endorsed the Republican nominee Ernie Fletcher in the general election.

Fletcher won.

Lunsford consistently apologizes for the bad move but it is still remembered by many politicos here in Kentucky to this day.

Bruce Lunsford is now the leading candidate for the US Senate. Greg Fischer, who has been struggling with his name ID and to overcome Lunsford in the polls, recently released an attack ad of his own.

It is disheartening to see such negativity in the Senate race, especially at a time when Senator McConnell could use a one way ticket home back to Kentucky from Washington.

Fischer is a great man and has all the right in the world to run whatever kind of political ads he wishes. What is upsetting is that the ad will do more harm than any potential good to the Democrats' chances in November. According to the latest polls, Lunsford will win the nomination heartily next month. The voters of Kentucky will only be served by the recent Fischer ad as to have one more dislike for Lunsford-in November.

Politics does make for strange bedfellows, as Fischer and McConnell seemingly join in a dislike for the frontrunner of the Democratic Senate race.

Here's hoping Fischer does not pull a "Lunsford" of his own and endorse McConnell in the general election.