It's time to vote. This election leaves us with real choices - Please, let's not hear the "both parties are the same" argument. All the way through the ticket we have people from both of the major parties who genuinely are different.
I'm not going to re-hash the presidential race, as I am sure you are all tired of hearing about it. I know I am. Let's just say that you have a choice tomorrow that will influence the direction of the country for years to come, from treatment of the environment, our behavior toward immigrants, and perhaps most clearly, who will be on the supreme court for many years to come. I'm counting on all of you to go out and do right by your families, your kids, and yourselves.
But what I care about more right at the moment is the down-ballot races. In the Senate you can put Russ Feingold back in office, and have him going back to work, talking to constituents, and standing up for them in Congress. Or you can put Ron Johnson back in, and have him continue to file lawsuits against our own govenment, and to have him continue to support the rich and take ideological stances against the middle class and the poor.
In the more local races, you pretty much can't go wrong by voting for the Democratic candidates. I cannot think of a single case where I believe the Republican is a better choice, and a whole lot of cases where the Democratic candidate is head and shoulders above the Republican. Alas, in my own district I don't have a choice - candidates have grown tired of fighting the gerrymander, and there is no Democratic candidate. This is a battle for the future, but it still needs to be fought.
Before I let you go to head out to the polls, a few pieces of info:
a. All you Bernie supporters out there -- I sympathize, I was all for Bernie myself. But whatever you do don't write in Bernie at the polls - by Wisconsin law your vote will be thrown out as Sanders is not registered as a write-in candidate in Wisconsin. So - unless you really are willing to "throw away" your vote, vote for someone who will be counted.
b. Need to figure out where to vote, check if you are really registerred, or who will be on your ballot ? Head to http://myvote.wi.gov for help
c. Still bewildered by the voter ID situation? Can't really blame you, all the answers are at http://bringitwisconsin.com .
d. Other questions about the election? Need to file a complaint? Head to the Elections Commission site at http://elections.wi.gov
We'll be making a stab at putting up a live stream of election coverage tomorrow night - probably from PBS if we can manage it. And then- finally- peace (we hope - I'm not convinced). The endless ads will stop. Let's hope we can all wake up with a situation on Wednesday morning that we can all live with.
And whatever you do - if you have not already,.head out to vote!!