A Cry for Help

Last July I began eagerly anticipating March 2, 2004. That was the day I would get to cast my vote for Howard Dean for President. Eight months later, as the day finally approches, I never could have imagined the way this primary season panned out. And as it turns out, I won't even get to vote.

In 2000 I applied for my absentee ballot in the summer, before I returned to New Orleans for school. I just barely received the ballot, for President only, on the Saturday before election day (which is always on a Tuesday). This being the first vote I would ever cast in a national election, I marked my choice and paid $18 to overnight my ballot so it would be counted. This time around, the RI board of canvassers couldn't even give me that option, as my absentee ballot is AWOL.

Does this matter? In reality, no. The man I supported whole-heartedly is no longer in the race, and polling of Rhode Islanders shows John Kerry winning by a landslide (70% to John Edwards's 9%). Still, I'm pretty upset about not being able to cast my vote. How can I tell you guys to make sure you get out to a polling place this Tuesday if I didn't even get my choice counted? Voting is literally the least you can do as a good citizen of the best country in the world. Gah, I'm not happy.

For those of you not subject to the whims of your local boards of canvassers, please go out on Tuesday. You can still vote for Wes Clark, Howard Dean, John Kerry, John Edwards, Dennis Kucinich, Joe Lieberman or Lyndon Larouche. You can even vote "uncommitted," signaling that you have no preference among the candidates. A vote for Dean could still be meaningful, if he breaks 15% statewide he will be assigned at least 1 delegate to the National Convention in Boston, and by sending a delegate you say that Dean's message is still important, despite his ceding the race. Or, if you just don't like Senator Melty Face, vote for John Edwards, he supposedly still has an outside chance. Either way, I hope you guys vote. for Howard Dean

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 29th, 2004 at 8:13 pm and is filed under 2004 Election. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.