My husband and elections (completely non-political)

[slsh]

Got a chuckle over him this evening.

We are so completely different. Opposites attract? We're the definition of it. At the same time, we complete each others sentences and have now evolved to the point where we are thinking the same thing at the same time (gets kind of annoying - neither one of us ever feels like we have an original thought anymore!).

Anyway, for every election since we've been together, we've cancelled each other out, across the board. It's really quite frustrating, LOL, because I feel like my vote doesn't count... because of him. I've actually tried to talk him out of voting before (bad citizen that I am).

So I was *thrilled* to vote today because my vote will count since we are, of course, not of the same political party.

So I'm so happy and feel like my vote mattered. Until we talk about the proposition that was on the ballot - something about building a freight yard across from the local horse track. I of course voted no. husband? Yep, you guessed it.... cancelled me out yet again.

Interestingly, if a particular candidate is nominated for the elephant party, I will vote for him over my usual donkey candidates. Running ever true to form, my husband, for the first time ever, will vote for a donkey candidate if this particular elephant is nominated. Stymied again.

Marital bliss.

 

[Star*]

slsh,

our household ALSO has a cancel out idealism. However; I vote because there are men and women who died to ensure that I could get to the poles - and I would be ashamed to think they sacrificed so much for me to not get out and cast my ballot.

Even if you cancel him out - you might be one of 3 vs. 2 and your vote could actually BE the deciding one.

And even odder yet - speaking of donkeys and elephants - we too - said the exact same thing you did about jumping party lines -

(insert Jaws theme)

I think we've figured out the political strategy that has been coming to fruition all along.

 

[Abbey]

Ditto, ditto. HOW can we hook up with someone so opposite???

Abbey

 

[hearts and roses]

Surprisingly, H and I usually vote along the same lines. We may differ on particular viewpoints, but in the end we usually vote the same. In local elections, we've actually cancelled out each other's vote a few times though!

Last election, H was so fedup with the two *key* political parties that he switched to an independent. So, this time around he couldn't even vote in the primary...or so he thought! When I went to vote, I noticed his name was listed under Democrats...hence, he could have voted today. Der!

 

[Wiped Out]

I got a chuckle out of reading this! husband and I are usually on the same page when voting but not always.

 

[tiredmommy]

husband and I generally vote the same... we often even order the same meal when we go out!

 

[Marguerite]

husband & I are generally on the same page - but voting for us is a bit different. We tend to cancel out mother in law's vote, though. Not that her vote makes much difference - in our village, the trend is towards the way husband & I vote, which means any vote to the contrary simply gets swallowed up here.

husband was wanting to say something to you all, but was concerned about causing offence - he wanted to say that it doesn't matter who you're voting for, just so long as you vote. It really does make a difference, it gives you a sense of being involved in the decision, even if the selected candidate is not the one you wanted. Simply by voting, you are making a statement. If you vote against the candidate that gets in, then they have got in with a narrower margin than they otherwise would have - this sends them a message to work hard and consider the range of viewpoints.

In Australia, voting is compulsory. While some people might feel a bit critical of that, because it means that you get votes from people who you feel barely have enough brain cells to rub together, it DOES mean that the candidate that gets in has to make sure that their policies are wanted, across the board.

We recently had a change of leader. It's early days yet to see if this is a good thing or a bad thing, but it was the result of majority choice, not simply the result of the majority who voted. We ALL feel some degree of responsibility for the outcome, regardless of how we voted.

We take our under-age kids in with us when we vote, to teach them the process. That way when they're old enough, they have some idea of what to do.

I believe your voting system is much simpler than ours. We have two voting papers - the first is for our local candidate. The party that gets the most candidates elected becomes the ruling party, and THEY choose a leader from amongst their number. We don't get to directly choose our country's leader.
But the other ballot paper is for the Upper House. It's the Aussie equivalent to the British House of Lords. Only we get to vote for ours. But the ballot paper is potentially very complicated and is often literally the size of a table cloth. The results can take weeks to come in. It is possible (I think also in the US?) to have one party in as leader of the country, but the other party (which controls the purse strings) to have the power in the Upper House (aka Senate).

We also have a lot of smaller parties which are so low in number they have no hope of ever being the majority party, but they can influence outcomes if they control the swinging votes. For example, if Liberal has 46 seats and Labour has 47, and the Greens party has 5, then on any vote, the Greens generally have the deciding votes. So even a minor party can have a lot of power under these circumstances.

A lot of the recent decisions taken by the previous government happened because, for a while, they had control of both houses PLUS balance of power. There was no minor party acting as political conscience. It is possible that their actions in using this control to force through some unpopular decisions led to such a massive swing against that party, and a change in government.

So for those of you voting - well done. The more who vote, then the more likely is it that the eventual elected representative will be TRULY representative of the wishes of the American people. And I do think this will be a very good thing indeed for the US.

Enjoy the process! We've finished with ours for now.

Marg

 

[timer lady]

Sue,

husband & I always cancel out each other's votes. I remember one year - the only election year - we decided because of all the chaos with kt & wm here not to bother going in to vote. Just because we would have canceled one another out.

by the way, we both felt guilt ridden for the next 6 months because of what went on in the country.