I had the privilege of delivering my absentee Ohio ballot to the Osaka consulate yesterday.
Of course I voted yes on 2, 3, 4, 5. When you apply for an absentee ballot, your address gets passed on to whoever wants it and so I got a mailing from an astroturf group that said vote NO on all of these issues. They worded it in such a way that if I were to believe them I would have voted NO on every freaking issue. If someone is interested I'll find the flyer and type it up here. But another look at the ballot and it was clear for most of them that this was wrong. Commentaries by Ohio PIRG and moveon and Dailykos users made it clear that yes was the way.
So, here's what happened when I talked to my parents...
Background: they are fundies and pro-lifers. First, Dad. He said, that he couldn't understand them. Granted he's not much of a reader, so he said they were too hard to understand so he said NO. I agree, they were all not that clear, especially about campaign finance. But the absentee ballot part was oh so clear. What the hell could be wrong with making it easier for people to vote?
Next, Mom. She said she did her research. I don't know what the Christian radio guys implied or where she did her research but she said she did her checking and voted NO to all. So in my family: Yes 33.3%, No 66.6 %. Not looking good! But praise god I voted or it would have been 100%. Ugly! She seemed to think that the YES vote would win. I hope she is right.
Then she asked me about the bond issue for high technology. I voted no, because I don't trust the Repugnantcan administration in Ohio. I won't feed the beast. If some Dems or Greens get in control, they can have all the bond issues they want until they become equally repugnant. SHE said she voted NO because it was for stem cell research which so she said, "of course they won't tell you that."
So that is what the vote looks like in Ohio. Retired union member Dad and Mom in denial in a Democratic sea (rust belt northern OH goes way Dem) voting for the enemy and an over educated Dem/Green son living abroad, hoping for better. Let's cross our fingers and turn the beast around, into the lake of fire.
Vote yes on 2, 3, 4, 5!
Oh, one last thing. There is another vote to approve a new WalMart. It borders on my aunt's property. (she is a Democrat/Union widow who only wants to maintain her property at the peaceful level she bought it at). And it is one of the last wooded areas in Lorain, Ohio left. It was DONATED it to the YMCA who couldn't afford to keep it and sold it to a church who said they would use it for a camp. Well things are not going well at the church and the pastor is in debt up the wazoo so they'll sell it to WalMart for some major return on their "investment". Apparently these tongue speaking nuts (at least the pastor) have totally sold out to the almighty dollar. What a total sham and sadly the local democrats are all sold out to the developers. Ugly ugly sad stuff. I'm calling Sherrod! And aren't there any budding young journalists who want to take up this story?