What to do when our Democratic candidates are shooting themselves in the foot - without any help from the opposition?
I am disgusted, bemused, now destined to spend the day distracted, shaking my head and muttering to myself like the people I try to avoid when on the street.
Why? I explain the problem below the fold -
I went to vote absentee on Monday. Contrary to what I had been led to believe, there was no paper trail involved, which concerned me right off the bat. However, it got worse: the candidate for the US House of Representatives, Lee Ballenger, was not included in the straight Dem ticket. He was instead listed as the candidate of a group called "Working Families". This meant I had to go back and vote for him individually, which I did. I tapped the touchscreen and nothing happened. Tried again, nothing happened. I decided to finish voting and check the review screen when I was done. Sure enough, no vote was recorded. I asked the lady who was in the office what to do. She said the other lady (who had left the room) was the one who knew how the machines worked, and she would be right back, which left me standing around and very glad that I was not holding up a line of would-be voters - how uncomfortable that would be! (Although, yes, I would have done it even if the line was out the door.) The knowledgeable lady returned, and assured me that all I had to do was to hit the screen harder, which I did. I really hit it pretty hard - that's the only way I can describe it - harder than one would think would be necessary. And yes, the vote for Mr Ballenger was finally accepted. I guess, anyway - it yellowed out and appeared to register. I thanked the ladies and left, but I felt uncomfortable about it, and discussed it with my husband. We agreed that it seemed only too coincidental, given the nasty state of things and the desperation of the incumbent party.
So today, in the local paper, Mr Ballenger is listed as 'Lee Ballenger, Democrat' and then again as 'Lee Ballenger, 'Working Families'. Hmm, what was this? Never heard of them. I sent an email to several people more knowledgeable than myself asking what was up. One lady emailed me back and explained that he was the candidate of both parties, so I googled the WFP. Progressive, out of New York, etc etc. SC is one of five (I think it said) states in the country that allow third parties to run candidates, so they had apparently recruited Mr Ballenger and several other Dems around the state to run as their candidate also. Which is fine, unless you stop to consider that almost no one has heard of the WFP. When Dem voters turn out next Tues, I suspect that Mr Ballenger and these other candidates will lose a great many votes because they are not on the straight Dem ticket.
I don't know who convinced these candidates to stand for a party no one here has ever heard of, and get themselves taken off the straight ticket, but I fear that they are going to be the victims of some bad advice, and we will all be the worse for it. I intend to look into this further, and will report my findings.