I’m not really sure how well this aged. Some parts, sure, but others …

Oops, I’m voting Republican

by Peter Hahnloser

Managing Editor

The Daily of the University of Washington

October 25, 2000

Oh, the thrill of voting. Where is it?

This year’s presidential choices are dull. No matter who wins, four years of blah will ensue domestically, and if the United States decides to get into a war, the forces will be led by someone who has no idea what he’s doing.

So nix the presidential race as a reason to go out and vote. There are still plenty of reasons left, however. The gubernatorial race and popular state initiatives should compel people to bother leaving the house on what is almost guaranteed to be a rainy, unpleasant Tuesday in November.

In the race for the top state office are an incumbent and - for all intents and purposes - a political greenhorn (yes, yes, and the myriad others who will receive embarrassment for losing by such a margin). Not surprisingly, one is a Democrat and the other a Republican, even though these days that means relatively little. The problem is, there’s really only one choice.

And, as I’m a registered Democrat, it’s somewhat annoying that the clear choice is John Carlson.

I’ve lived in Washington for more than three years, and in that time, Gary Locke has made a number of major decisions. I’m thinking of a round number - specifically, zero.

Now, I’m not all for this “more cars will reduce traffic” theory the Republicans are hell-bent on, but I’d rather see a governor go balls-to-the-wall on an absolutely asinine decision than do absolutely nothing. At least things will change under Carlson. Not necessarily for the better - but then we’ll finally have something going so horrifically wrong that in four years, we can get a do-something Democrat to set things right again.

Indulge me in this pop-quiz: What’s the last thing Gary Locke did to affect your life? Yes, you can have a few more moments - any answer would be a miracle. It seems Locke has been busier effecting lives than affecting them, given his no-longer-childless status.

So, you ask, we have a useless governor - why does that necessitate electing a Republican? It does for the same reason I-200 was a good initiative to get on the ballot: A scary number of people don’t see anything going wrong until it slaps them in the face, thus forcing them to act.

With nothing going on in the governor’s mansion, we have nothing to support and nothing to protest. Democracy literally flies out the window for the simple reason that no measurable amount of public opinion is expressed.

A good example of a take-action-right-now-and-always-in-the-wrong-direction leader is Seattle Mayor Paul Schell. Between his performance through the WTO conference, his nullification of the All-Ages Dance Ordinance and his failure to veto the city council’s scrapping of the initiative-spawned monorail project, he’s demonstrated an uncanny ability to fuck up every single decision.

As a result, people are outraged, and it’s become pretty clear that Mr. Schell is a one-term mayor on a nonstop trip to obscurity.

So, give Carlson a chance - in the unlikely case that he improves life in Washington, we all win. And if he doesn’t - damn will we have a good race in four years.

In that time, Locke’s biggest accomplishment will probably be having another kid.