Josh and I voted on Tuesday. . .and it worked.
There were only two options on my ballot: Referendum 1 (the private school vouchers) and Steve Turley or Coy Porter for city council. By the way--Steve Turley is no relation of mine, though I do in fact have an uncle by the same name. Also, the politician Steve Turley once called my uncle (of the same name), asking him to "not do anything to make him look bad," or something along those lines. My uncle's response? "I would ask the same of you." And let me just tell you that my uncle has a lot more to be worried about than the guy running for city council.
So that guy of course--of course--won. I mean, we're in Utah, where most people think unregulated development and no-holds-barred free market capitalism is the fifth gospel.
But, when I fumbled to turn on my lifeline Wednesday morning, the reassuring NPR voice told me that the referendum. had. lost.
Maybe you weren't as shocked as I was, considering that polls leading up to the election predicted as much. But I can honestly say that in all of my years as a politically involved Utahn, that was the first time something I voted for won!
The next morning Josh and I drove around with dazed looks in our eyes. It is weird to be on a winning side. It almost made me wonder if I had voted wrong. How could I agree with the same people who had elected Steve Turley? But there it was. A sweet, strange moment of victory.
6 comments:
interesting! and yeah...I felt like when I cast my presidential vote that I could vote for myself as a write-in candidate for all the impact my vote was going to have. someday my dream is to live in a swing state!
I would love to live in a swing state. It would be so much fun. When I was in MA, half of the commercials were for presidential candidates. It was so exciting!
Rachel: Massachusetts is less of a swing state than Utah is. People will be more shocked to see MA vote repub than to see UT vote dem.
I do live in a swing state now, and it's kinda annoying. Good: your vote counts, bad: you can't get politics out of your hair.
Interestingly, people here are much, much more reticent to discuss politics than I had imagined. Probably when you realize that half of the people around you will vote differently, and so most folks keep their politics to themselves. Why do Mormons talk about politics in the halls on Sunday? Because they assume (wrongly, I think) that everyone else is *of course* a republican, and so it's just an area of common belief.
Oh, and I know Steve Turley (the councilman, not your uncle. Unless I know you uncle as well, which isn't impossible), and he's not that bad. My wife and his wife were in the same bookgroup, and so I got sucked into a couple of things and saw that he's much more normal than his campaign persona would suggest.
I still don't think I'd vote for him, because I'm not electing him as a friend. Then again, the choice of Provo politicians is even more depressing than the choice at the national level.
Well, the fact that the last time Utah elected a Democratic governor was 1976 and MA elected Republican Mitt Romney in 2002, I'd have to say it's still more of a swing state than UT--that plus the fact that I don't think I've ever seen a presidential candidate ad in Utah, ever.
I would find less politics talk at church (especially the "I'm assuming everyone agrees with me" kind) very refreshing. But I can also see politics getting divisive between neighbors, etc. in a swing state.
I didn't mean to imply that Steve Turley is a bad person. I don't know him at all. I just strongly disagree with his policies.
MA tends to elect republican governors: the past five (at least) governors have been repubs. But in presidential elections MA has zero, none, nil controversy. It's all democrat, all the time. Republicans don't stand a chance in presidential elections and hence, MA is no swing state. And if I recall correctly, they don't send Republicans to Congress, either.
Why to presidential candidates swing through MA? For the money: there's good fundraising opportunities in MA that simply don't exist in Utah. You can bet there would be more presidential visits if Utah could generate the money that Massachusetts could.
And I am still bummed that that dipwad Cannon beat Orton and that was, what, ten years ago? More? Still, there's one Democrat sent to Washington by Utah county, no less.
Interesting... okay, so I would be happy to live in either a "swing" state or just "relevant" state.
Post a Comment