The Potomac Primary

Well, the voting is over-- for us, anyway. Despite the very bad weather, a large number of people voted. ESPECIALLY for a primary. I did go vote, though the weather was bad. We DID get to leave school a LITTLE early, and I went to vote immediately.... and was told that I was in the wrong place. What? I've been coming here for five years! Yes, well, apparently they changed some polling places-- I guess there have been a lot of people moving into the area, so they needed a second polling place. So, off I go-- it wasn't all that far away, so that was good. The thing that bothered me when I went in to vote (aside from the fact that there are just these little stands with small sides, no real privacy at all) was that there was a sign as you go in that says, "No children under the age of 12 will be allowed into the voting booths."

WHAT? First, only children 12 and over need to understand about voting? I remember going with my mom from the time I was little; it was an adventure, and she'd let me pull the lever to cast the vote after she'd made her selections. And, second, what about parents who don't have anyone to watch their child while they vote? They don't deserve to vote? That upset me.

ANYWAY, voting went well, no major lines, actually-- despite the fact that turnout was high.

However, today people are asking why Hillary and Huckabee don't just quit. Um, excuse me? I could SORT of see it with Huckabee; after all, he is over 500 delegates behind. But, even so, he has obviously touched a nerve with the ultra-right neo-cons, and has the ability at this point to have a very important voice at the RNC, so why would he quit? Not to mention, he seems to be angling for VP, though he says he isn't.

And, as for Hillary, she and Obama are within a VERY few delegates of each other. Why would ANYONE even THINK of asking why she doesn't quit? Did people ask Obama why HE didn't quit when he was several delegates behind (but still relatively close?). No, because it wouldn't have made sense. And it doesn't make sense here, either. We still have more than 1/4 of the primaries to go, and some very large, important states still. I can't imagine why anyone who is still in it would get out now. Even Giuliani didn't quit, he just suspended his campaign.

Supposedly, it is to allow 'unification' of the parties, so they can get behind a candidate and begin to think about November and a VP candidate. In my opinion, it's still way too early to even think about those things. We are looking at a possibly brokered convention on the Democrat side, and even possibly on the Republican side, if McCain doesn't get the required number of delegates. Which IS possible, because a LOT of Republicans are refusing to vote for him.

And that could cause some MAJOR problems if he is the candidate in November. There are lots of people who are saying they will either just stay home or vote for Hillary/Barack.

It's going to be a LONG 9 months!!!!!!

Tsunami Tuesday!

Well, this is it. Half of the country is voting today. I really don't understand why they don't just come together and decide on a date for a national primary. We have national general elections, don't we? Especially with the race to be the 'first,' which led to two states having at least some of their delegates taken away because only CERTAIN states are allowed to hold primaries/caucuses before Feb. 5. Which makes no sense to me. And what also makes no sense to me is why those two states thought it was SO important to hold their primaries BEFORE today that they were willing to GIVE UP those delegates. What, really, was the difference in voting two weeks ago and voting today? Really? Did their votes cont more? (No, actually LESS, unless the parties change their minds and decide to seat those delegates anyway). Would they have had LESS of a voice if they'd had their primaries today? No, not as far as I can see.

Since it looks like the Republican candidate may be pretty much decided today, I'm following the results carefully... and I am very interested to see how the delegate splits shake out for the Democrats... although that won't be known for a while, it seems. They have to do the district-by-district counts for that.

Today will definitely tell us a lot, though!

"If you live in a Super Tuesday state, come out and help choose a president!"