The 2014 General Election As I See It

The 2014 general election is in full swing here in Alachua County, Florida, with early voting now available.  For me, I cast an early ballot in an election a few years ago but greatly prefer the election day ritual at my local precinct (which this year is on November 4).  Besides, it gives me a chance to check up on what's going on at my precinct site, which just so happens to be the community senior recreational center (which I'll be eligible to use in less than two years).  This year it's no high-glamour presidential election...just the governorship of Florida at stake, along with some state cabinet positions, a U.S. house race, a couple of county commission races, a county tax collector race, five district judge retention questions, three state constitutional amendments, an Alachua County referendum...and an Alachua County nonbinding straw ballot question.  For me, that's plenty to vote on, but I predict that less than half of the eligible voters will cast their ballots this election...while a portion of the non-voters will complain that the Republican Party is trying to suppress the vote with their reasonable (to me) demand for adequate identification at the polling place.

However, my political alignment tends to fall on the Democratic side, so if you are one of those politically hysterical types who automatically equate the Democratic Party with evil and tyranny, you're welcome to stop reading now...and placidly continue on with your own conception of reality.  But at this point I don't see any compelling reason to side with the Republicans in any of the races...especially in the contest for governor between incumbent Rick Scott and his immediate predecessor, Charlie Crist.  After mudslinging at Crist in ad after ad for being a corrupt and flip-flopping politician while blaming him for the international recession that happened after the banking crisis of late 2008, Scott then had the nerve to put on an ad implying that he was above such mudslinging and that only Crist was showing attack ads.  What hypocrisy.  But none of this is why I'm planning to vote for Crist...I just feel he is a decent man (albeit, granted, a somewhat slick politician) who accepts that he would be the governor of ALL the people in Florida, not just those with his own narrow ideological perspective (which I feel is the case with Scott).  That's not an endorsement from me, though, and others are encouraged to follow their own convictions (or hunches, if they aren't sure) about how they will vote.

In one of the county commission races, I was going to go for the Republican there, since on the surface he sounded as if he would make road repair a top priority.  But actually, John Martin would rather hold back on needed repairs because he opposes a proposed sales surtax specifically earmarked for those projects (also on the ballot) and instead insist on doing everything within the budget as it is.  While an admirable stand at first glance, it is an unrealistic one that is destined to further delay needed road work.

Regarding the state constitutional amendments...No.1 is for water and land conservation.  On the surface it seems like a good idea, and I'm going for it.  No.2 is to legalize medical marijuana use and production.  I think this amendment is rather phony in that those supporting it the most are viewing it as a transition to the general legalization of pot (a transitional path that Colorado followed).  And since I have my own suspicions about certain potential producers of the plant wanting to get an inside track on the industry when that general legalization does occur, I'm opposing this amendment on principle.  Amendment No.3 gives the governor power to appoint vacancies to the judiciary.  But unlike the advise and consent requirement for presidential appointments on the federal level of government, I see in this amendment no checks provided on whomever the governor may choose to appoint...so I'm voting "no" on this question, too.

As for the remaining two questions on the ballot, I'm going to "hold my nose" and vote for the proposed Alachua County surtax, because our roads are truly in a deplorable state here.  And the straw ballot question is just political posturing about whether one would support a U.S. Constitutional Amendment only recognizing individual human beings as "persons" and not group entities such as corporations or labor unions...and that spending money is not an expression of free speech protected under the First Amendment.  Implied in this argument is the notion that people are too stupid to filter through the myriad campaign ads that inundate them during the campaign season, many financed by corporate interests.  My answer is that if they are that stupid, then they deserve the stupid government they end up electing: let us carefully avoid restricting our own precious freedom of association and the expressions that arise from them...