Massachusetts Primary

I like to vote. It's nice to live in a country where I can do so, do so with a ballot that has more than one candidate on it, and do so without a gun pointed to my head. So while today's Massachusetts primary really was a taffy-pull at best, I wanted to participate.

I'm a registered independent. This meant that Tuesday I had to decide whether to pick up the Democratic or Republican ballot. Apparently the Green Party had a ballot, too, but the folks at the polling place didn't ask me if I wanted one. President Obama, as the incumbent, is the only Democrat on the ballot. So it made more sense to me to be a Republican-for-a-day.

There were several candidates on the ballot -- some of whom have already dropped out of the race -- but I was struck at what a groundbreaking group of candidates this was.

For the first time I can recall, a chameleon is running for president.

Also on the ballot was someone who has trouble making a list.

And someone who won't stay out of my bedroom.

And someone whom nobody's heard of.

And someone who flunked history.

And someone who throws stones in glass houses.

This sucks. I take voting seriously. I'm not one of these people who the crosses party lines in the primary to pick the worst possible candidate and stack the deck for the general election. I think Obama has done yeoman's work considering the hand he was dealt. But to be honest, I don't like either political party very much and when November rolls around, I would much prefer to have a choice between two candidates that I can tolerate than have to pray that one candidate wins.

There was one candidate on the Republican ballot whom I think I could stomach as president, so I cast my ballot accordingly. It's probably a losing cause. I can't say it was a great day for democracy. But I did the best I could with the resources I had available.