Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Delayed by Snow

Delayed by Snow
The funny thing about Massachusetts is that it snows here every winter and nobody gets any better at driving in it. After a VERY long commute home and a stop off at the polls to vote I am way late after dinner. There was plenty of great stories out there today and the blogroll on the left should be used in case of financial news need!

Election
As I had written in the last post, the Massachusetts Senate special election is today and I am sure you have heard about it no matter where you are. My anecdotal observations from voting:
-About 2 times as many people as for the last Presidential election at my voting station.
-Scott Brown signs on cars and in front of the school were running about 4 to 1 over Martha Coakley signs.
-Heard at least 10 times: Question: "Do you think he can pull it off?". Answer: "I hope so."

It seems Mr. Brown has a realistic chance to win which is jaw dropping here. Still, he will have to win by a fair amount as the city "vote creation", I mean "turnout" will be large and there is always the fun game of "Absentee Ballot Avalanche" to contend with.

As is aid before the only thing that moves a politician is the idea they are going to be sent home. Protests, marches, and phone calls are nice but they do not scare anyone. A win for Brown here may have the desired effect of waking the elected few up to the people's will. It could also be a fine example of how easy it is to get real change; just go out and vote, it's that simple.

For those looking for a new way to do things, I submit from Outside The (Cardboard) Box The Cardboard Manifesto.

Have a good night.

6 comments:

watchtower said...

Scott Brown wins!

I'm stunned.

Good job Massachusetts.

Lisa said...

Brown WINS! Thank you, Massachusetts.

EconomicDisconnect said...

I have to say I am pretty stunned as well.

Maybe things can change if people get fed up enough.

Next up; Bank bailout supporters and Ben Bernanke confirmers.

Anonymous said...

Bailouts and Bernanke? I like how you move onto the next job. No rest for the weary!

GawainsGhost said...

Yes, this was a stunner. And a well deserved rebuke for all politicians who think they're aristocrats. It's their sense of entitlement that will do them in.

Since I live in deep South Texas, about as far away from Massachusettes as you can get, I didn't follow this race too closely, other than what I read on a few blogs like this one. However, you know, Texas was long dominated by Democrats for decades until just a few election cycles ago. Now it's solidly Republican, except for pockets of blue like Austin, the Rio Grande Valley, and parts of Houston and Dallas. I don't think this particular area has ever elected a Republican to any office, but that may change soon, and if it does that would be a real shocker.

Me, I'm a libertarian (small l) and largely indifferent. My basic philosophy is to vote against every incumbent regardless of party, although I will support a candidate who shares my values and does the job he or she was elected to do, like governor Rick Perry.

The latest dust up is that Perry turned down federal aid to the public schools, which caused quite a controversy. But Perry's point is astute. The people of Texas don't want the federal government meddling in our schools, because they're doing quite well, thank you very much, a lot better than those in California.

Now Obama is proposing some way for the school districts to circumvent the governor and accept federal money. Perry called him out on that, citing the 4th amendment and saying if there was any example of how the federal government is intruding on state's rights, this is it. So the debate rages on.

I see a sea change coming.

GawainsGhost said...

Oh, did I misspell Masachusetts? Sorry. Inside joke.