Decision 2006

Anything important is never left to the vote of the people. We only get to vote on some man; we never get to vote on what he is to do. - Will Rogers

One prediction says that there will be approximately a 60% turnout to vote today in Massachusetts. That equates to roughly 2.4 million voters. There were 2.2 million in the last gubernatorial election in 2002.

With three millionaires in the running for governor it’s no surprise that the spending for this campaign has obliterated all records from the past. $42.8 million has been spent by six candidates shattering the mark of $30.6 million set by nine candidates four years ago.

Even with all this money being spent one would think that we would have the best candidates, but for many (those that don’t vote along party lines) that is not so. I feel like what W.C. Field once said, “I never vote for anyone, I always vote against.”

It’s sad to say that there have been very few people running for office that have inspired me to vote for them without any doubts or questions. This year is not any different. My only inspiration is motivated by anger, the anger in seeing the shambles the city and state is in. My only recourse is to get rid of the incumbents, and vote for the lesser of the two evils.

I’ve completed my Voter Checklist which I will take with me to the polls in a few hours and realize that about half of my selections will not be the winning candidate. The only ones I know that will get elected are the four positions that are running unopposed. For those that I don’t have a choice, I’ll just leave blank, for I feel that they don’t merit the miniscule effort that’s needed to fill in the circle next to their names.

As I head to the polls and hack my way through the forest of political hacks handing out flyers for their candidates, the only thing I feel good about is that this process is coming to an end for this year and I will not have to hear all the empty promises made via political ads.