voted

I was busily typing away at nanowrimo when the Guy came in and plumped himself down on my bed.

"What am I going to do now?"

I stared at him blankly for a second and then turned back to my computer. "Hmm," I said. I wasn't really paying attention, I admit it. 8,500 words down! 41,500 to go!

A few seconds later, a finger poked me in the arm.

Then again.

And again.

It hurt.

"STOP IT!" I yelled, swinging around. "Is this what you've found to do?!"

The Guy was leering at me. "Pay attention to MEEEEEEEEEEE."1

Rant: On...

Voting was the first thing I did yesterday, my nod to the spirits of democracy. The rest of the day, which dragged as all the days have dragged since Daylight Savings started, was spent in predicting dire consequences for the rest of the world if the Republicans gained control of the House and the Senate, to add to their Supreme Court and White House. Sure. That'll never happen.

See, it's not that I'm a democrat, though I've registered myself as one, and it's not that I'm necessarily opposed to republicans. I dislike Bush with the passion of a thousand sexually frustrated preteen boys, this is true, but that's a perfectly reasonable dislike, based on the fact that the man is a nitwit. I put to you that I would dislike any nitwit that somehow managed to became president of the United States, Democrat or Republican. No, my primary objection to the results of last night's elections is that a single party now controls all three levels of government, to a great extent nulling much of the power behind checks and balances.

On the other hand, I'm also royally ticked off at the Democratic party, which has once again -- accolades! accolades! -- proven to the world that they have a political fortitude only matched by the military prowess of the French. Being a democrat has worked for me in the past because I was a musician, and as a musician I had Higher, Nobler things to worry about than sordid politics. Musicians are usually too poor to pay much (or anything) in taxes, and so are less likely to concern themselves with where the taxes will be spent. Here. Take my $5.62. Go wild with it; buy yourself a SCUD.

Now that I've actually got real money in the pot, things have changed. Ideally speaking, they should have remained exactly the same; my interest in American politics should have been based on my citizenship in the country, not dated on the night I opened my first paycheck from my first Real Job and yelled, "They're taking how much?!"

Sad to say, self-interest governs us all.

Gore was interviewed by ABC News on the subject of the elections, and was posed the question: What did the democrats do wrong? Tactfully, he sidestepped the question, observing that it was what the democrats should do in the future that counted. A prudent move for him, since he has to work for them; and sure, the future's important, but it's sort of time for the democrats to do a little self-evaluation, isn't it? The future's only relevant if there is a future, and while I'm not so doom and gloom about the Democratic Party's future as some people I've read on chat forums, I can't say that I'm optimistic.

The Democratic Party has not always upheld my interests or supported the things that I support, but it's been a Lesser Evil. On those issues that I could never see myself compromising -- issues like abortion, civil rights, right to privacy, the good of the one over the good of the corporation -- I've always felt fairly sure that the Democratic Party was on my side.

The problem is, now I'm not so sure I want it on my side. After all this time, it's started to occur to me that maybe the Lesser Evil isn't good enough. Maybe it's time to move on to something that I actually believe in, some party that will actually represent my interests and my concerns. Maybe if the Democratic Party rebuilt itself, like the Republican Party did during Clinton's era. Or maybe not.

Personally, I think the Democratic Party lost because they didn't try. Because they've gotten arrogant and forgotten that in order to win the competition, you actually have to compete. I think they lost because democrats don't come out to vote with the same dedication that republicans do, preferring instead to bitch and moan about how things would be so much better if the Republicans weren't in power. I think they forgot that in order to be a party, you sort of have to be a Party, one with a direction and a cause and a goal rather than a random group of people that eat from the same warchest and walk safely (if unspectacularly) in the middle of the road. I think they've forgotten how to inspire their members, because I'm sure as heck not.

Right now, I'm sure that plenty of recriminations and blame are flying around Washington, in expensive houses and campaign headquarters. To indulge in a game of What Ifs may seem like a luxury of self-pity, but we've plenty of time for that now. Two whole years. Clock starts now.

Rant: Off.

1. The Guy, watching me type this up in a flurry of flying fingers and revenge, began to poke me again. "You have to tell them that you always do it to me," he insisted.