I'm going to vote Monday and I'm really torn about who to vote for in the Corker race. I don't want to not-vote, I hate to "waste" a vote for a candidate with no chance (and frankly, I don't know anything about the rest of the ticket).
If we elect Mark Clayton, we will end up being the laughingstock of the country. Just check out this article in the Seattle Times: America's Worst Senate Candidate
There is no doubt in my mind that this tool would hit DC and be the darling of Fox and other right-wing media because they're going to love having a Democrat that shares their "values". He will no doubt champion andvote for personhood and fight for DOMA and who knows what education. How on Earth did we drop the ball and have no one better than this winger:
"Jesus did not have a campaign staff. And he had the most successful campaign in human history," Clayton said recently, when asked if all this adds up to a winning run against sitting U.S. Sen. Bob Corker, the Republican.
Jesus "didn't even have pictures or a website."
I'm no fan of
Bob Corker but i think he at least sounds reasonable at times and does seem to stand true to his quote on his website:
For far too long, Washington has lacked courage and officials who were willing to behave like adults.
.
Oh, that he really walked that walk.
He obviously votes with his party more than I'd like, but he's at least shown a smidge of interest in trying to work with the Democrats and, I sort of believe, that in a second Obama term he's going to be more willing to do so in order to get things moving since voting Obama out will not be his primary goal and he won't be in danger of being Tea-Partied the next four years. Surely that movement will have imploded by the next re-election.
I know it's a numbers game and a Senate seat would mean more Democrats, but Clayton has zero chance of winning, so that's a moot point.
Am I coping out if I vote for a non-entity independent or skipping the race entirely? Is a lack of a vote a stronger message? That's my thinking--have a huge disparity between votes for Obama and Clayton. I like the idea of helping reinforce the fact that most Tennessee Democrats find him a ridiculous choice.
I guess I just convinced myself as I typed.