I just voted absentee.
Be sure you vote. This is a terribly important election.
More important, if you can, volunteer.
Contact your state or county party. They can almost certainly use you.
Obviously, to readers of this blog, I want Bush to win and I want more Republicans to do this than Democrats.
But people from either party who want to make sure this election is conducted fairly and legally should get involved. Make sure this election goes the way it is supposed to. Do not tolerate anything else, from your own side or from the other side.
The reason our system works is because citizens stay alert and make sure it works the way it is supposed to. That’s the only way it works. It is not somebody else’s job. It is your job as a citizen.
I have volunteered in other elections in the past and I had very interesting experiences. Work demands prevent me from doing anything this year beyond voting. I wish that was not so. If I could, I’d be going to Milwaukee with other Republican lawyers to make sure no vote fraud occurs there. Democrats have similar initiatives in place, as they should.
If you can possibly participate in the process beyond just voting in this very important election I strongly, strongly urge you to do so.
Update: Check out the 72 hour program.)
An anecdote that reminds us of “what must it be like to live without any sense of irony” moments. This was an e-mail from one of my friends, deep in red territory:
“Just went down to the courthouse and voted. Just ahead of me in line was a couple wearing navy t-shirts with the words George W on the backs. The officials made them take off the shirts before they could vote. On the way out, they were again ahead of me with the shirts on again, and the woman sitting in the reception desk was yelling at them that they couldn’t wear those shirts, because it was electioneering and it could get her in trouble. The husband laughed it off and said not to worry, he was leaving. The receptionist after he walked out the door said loudly in front of several people, “well not until you had voted for an idiot!” I turned to the woman about 20 feet away and said “You’re electioneering! That is electioneering!” and she only laughed.”
Lex,
I agree with you, however, I was really ticked off when I received the email from Judy Baar Topinka asking me to take a day off of work to volunteer. The irony of being contacted through her office, a party to one of the most corrupt episodes in Illinois GOP history, is thick. While I too am a Republican, I yearn for the day when we have new political leadership in our home state. Oh, for a Fitzgerald!
Andy. Yeah. I agree. The Illinois GOP is in a sad state.
JBT’s notice does point out one structural weekness of the GOP on election day — we have private sector jobs and can’t get the day off as easily.
I voted about three weeks ago for Bush via absentee ballot. Check out my blog posting as to why I voted for Bush.
[Editor’s note: MT ate the commenter’s original link to his own post, so I added what I think is the correct link. JG]