VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! info here, in case you need it

How to find out where you should vote:

League of Women Voter’s Site

Local elections site

The Seattle Stranger endorsements (Laugh While You Learn!)

Legal help of any kind re elections: 1-866-OUR-VOTE

Free stuff for voters in Seattle: Starbucks coffee, Babeland, Cupcake Royale, Ben & Jerry’s

Make history and have fun: go vote!

Wise words from Thomas Friedman

Thomas Friedman, with whom I have an ongoing love/hate relationship–I unsubscribed from the NYTimes back in 2003 largely because of his seeming lock-step approval of war and the Bush admin–has in the last year gained my deep appreciation for his clarity of thought and insight.  I’m sure he’ll be relieved to know I’m back on board.

Anyhoo, I’ve been telling everyone I can to read and consider this Sunday’s editorial, entitled Vote for ( ).  Individual NYT contributors aren’t allowed to make endorsements for public office, so he sidesteps that…but his preference in this election is transparent and heartening.

More significant to me, though, was this: he makes clear that whoever wins will inherit an economy in shambles, a world deeply divided, and a country that is basically demoralized.  No one person will be able to change the exceptionally difficult times we’re facing–and neither candidate is facing or discussing this reality in the election or debates.

We are all going to have to pay, because this meltdown comes in the context of what has been “perhaps the greatest wealth transfer since the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia in 1917,” says Michael Mandelbaum, author of “Democracy’s Good Name.” “It is not a wealth transfer from rich to poor that the Bush administration will be remembered for. It is a wealth transfer from the future to the present.”

Never has one generation spent so much of its children’s wealth in such a short period of time with so little to show for it as in the Bush years.”

He concludes, then, by suggesting we vote based on the leadership and character of the candidate, because the new president will be facing a set of challenges that will require a united country, focused on solutions. What a concept.

First, we need a president who can speak English and deconstruct and navigate complex issues so Americans can make informed choices. We have paid an enormous price for having a president who could not explain and reassure us during this financial meltdown….

Second, we need a president who can energize, inspire and hold the country together during what will be a very stressful recovery. We have to climb out of this financial crisis at a time when the baby boomers are about to retire and going to need their Social Security and eventually Medicare.

Third, we need a president who can rally the world to our side. We cannot get out of this crisis unless China starts consuming more and unless Europe keeps lowering interest rates. Everyone is interconnected, and everyone is still looking to America to lead.

Vote for the candidate you think has the smarts, temperament and inspirational capacity to unify the country and steer our ship through what could be the rockiest shoals our generation has ever known. Your kids will thank you.

Thanks, Mr. Friedman–your clarity is much appreciated.

Days 339-345: MLwC, a Can-Do Attitude and Hope

We democrats are lucky this time around: we’ve got two awesome candidates and I’ll be happy when either one of them wins in November–as I’m certain one of them will. Whoever gets the nod in the run-up, I just hope they have the good sense to step back and let the Repugnicans tear each other apart–I’m also pretty sure that will happen. What goes around comes around.

I’m disappointed that Edwards dropped out. I had my enviro and anti-big-corpo-madness hopes pinned on him, but I wasn’t heart sick to see him leave the race…we have such an excellent choice with Hillary and Barack. Except for one thing…that environment issue. Oh, and the big-corpo-madness issue. I don’t think either of the candidates raises my pulse on those issues and for that, I’m truly hoping for a miracle once they get in office. I’m hoping for some enlightenment, as neither one has a strong track record or seems a strong champion for issues that are big for me. Still and all, as a country, we can only do better, and we have only to put the past eight years where they belong–behind us–and move on in a better direction.

I’m rooting for Hillary because I think she’s a woman with a can-do attitude. She’s an incredibly hard worker–and like so many women who have had to fight hard to get half the respect they deserve, she’s got some rough edges. I understand that, and I even appreciate that. I understand her demeanor, which at times can be brusk–it doesn’t sway my sense that she has the experience, knowledge and passion to lead us in a direction I wholeheartedly support. I would love Hillary to be a resoundingly successful first woman president of the United States.

But this morning I was thinking about something. I was thinking about how hopeful I was when Bill Clinton was first running for office back in ’92. 15 freaking years ago–I can hardly believe it. Bill Clinton was incredibly hopeful and inspiring and he came from virtually nowhere to win the nomination, and he played music I could relate to, and he was simply the voice of the same section of my generation that wanted a progressive force in the white house after so many dismal years of Bush 1 and Reagan (no, I don’t think Reagan walked on water–I’m from California and witnessed his cold-hearted elitist governing style first hand).

Bill Clinton offered hope that things could be different, and I was swept along with it. All in all I think it was a good presidency, though there are some things I still wish he’d done differently (that’s an understatement). Clinton, both Hillary and Bill, wear the scars of that time.

If Barack gets the nomination, I know he’ll win the presidency, and I’ll help. He’s not my first choice, not even my second choice–but I get the draw. I get the pull of hope, the resonance of a generation chomping at the bit to do things differently, and I hope he’s able to change things, if that’s how the nomination shakes out. More than anything, I’m looking forward to a healing, forward looking president. I remember the allure of hope–it can move mountains.

Daily Stats: Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sat, Sun
Car: 88 miles (a lot of biz and 14 tasks)
Bike: 0
Ped: 5
Bus: 0