Thursday, June 22, 2006

Time to crossover and vote the GOP

Time to crossover and vote the GOP
Cathy Cox is only the latest Democrat to tell us she loves us and then take the HOV lane to Bainbridge on gay marriage.

By CHRISTIE AYOTTE
Southern Voice
Friday, June 16, 2006

MY DAD WOULD cackle with glee if he knew what I have been doing for the past few weeks.

His daughter, the die-hard liberal lesbian, has spent her free time trying to convince her buddies to vote Republican in the next election? No, really, this is the best Father’s Day gift ever for a 20-year Army veteran and devout Republican.

And yet, while a mass crossover would constitute an undeserved gift to Republican State Sen. Casey Cagle in his bid to become Georgia’s next lieutenant governor, I have come to believe it is the smartest thing gay voters could possibly do in the July 18 primary.

I am really talking about the governor’s race, of course, though I am not going to rehash the whole thing. Short version: Democratic hopeful Cathy Cox, the current secretary of state, initially told gay Georgians she supported civil unions; now she thinks a special session to “resolve” the gay marriage “issue” is a fantastic idea.

Cox is only the latest Democrat willing to come into our homes, tell us how much they love us, cluck over how unfortunate it is that we have no rights, take our campaign contributions — and then take the HOV lane to Bainbridge when our unpopularity starts to feel contagious.

So with the July primaries coming up, gay voters can (a) vote for the Democrats anyway in the hope they will change; (b) write-in someone; (c) stay home; or (d) vote Republican. (Note: primaries exist to narrow the candidates for the two major parties only, so you can’t vote third party this summer.)

Believe it or not, the correct answer is “(d)” — vote Republican. Here’s why the other options don’t work, in reverse order:

(c): Staying home is not the political statement you think it is.

Approximately four dorks like me will look at the voter returns and see that turnout was surprisingly low in certain districts, but I promise we don’t think, “Wow, these voters were making a dramatic political statement!”

We think, “What a bunch of apathetic losers in that district!” Then the next candidates who buy the voter file do not mail you any literature because they think you do not vote. Option (c) hurts us.

(b): Your write-in votes do not count.

If you are unclear about this, check out the current lawsuit over the Atlanta City Council’s District 6 seat. Lesbian incumbent Anne Fauver won the fall race over gay challenger Steve Brodie by five votes because the Fulton Board of Elections decided to throw away the nine write-in ballots that were cast in the race.

Had the votes been counted toward the total, neither candidate would have had more than 50 percent, there would have been a run-off, and then who knows who would be representing District 6.

And guess what? No one knows or cares whom those nine people voted for, either, except perhaps the elections staffers. So option (b) feels good, but it does not get us anywhere.

(a): Rewarding bad behavior is foolish.

The Democratic Party in Georgia has behaved very badly. So our response to that is to reward them with our votes? Dr. Phil and your therapist would say that option (a) is not in your best interest.

THAT BRINGS US TO the Republicans, and potentially the most dangerous race on the ballot this election cycle: the battle between Cagle and Ralph Reed in the GOP primary for lieutenant governor.

Reed, the former Christian Coalition head, is under investigation for ties to Jack Abramoff, and he has been implicated in a huge casino lobbying scandal, yet he still manages to run about even with Cagle in the polls.

The man is a political genius, and that’s why we need to keep him out of office. A Ralph Reed victory would have a dangerous impact here and on the national level, and it is the fastest route to making Georgia Democrats take a hard right in November.

Only one group gets a free pass when it comes to crossover voting: Those who live in the Georgia House districts where gay candidates Allen Thornell and Karla Drenner are on the ballot. They need your votes, so don’t switch to the GOP primary this time around.

The rest of us should use our votes to keep Reed out of the State Capitol this July 18. At least then we will get something for our votes. That’s more than we can say about voting Democrat.

Friday, June 02, 2006

Surviving the AUC/HBCU Life

Surviving the AUC/HBCU Life

This is related to politics but I still had to blog this.