I’m always a little bit nervous about voting early, but I did it: I turned my ballot in Saturday.
I keep thinking about Montana Republican Greg Gianforte, who last year body-slammed a Guardian reporter the night before a special election. Imagine having already turned in your ballot before that fiasco. Oops.
Or perhaps it would be no big deal. I mean, Gianforte admitted he was wrong, both in a public apology (after a couple limp attempts at denial—and in the face of an audience that didn’t seem to care that much), and, later, pled guilty of misdemeanor assault.
Nonetheless, it seems that Trump is a big fan; introducing Gianforte a couple weeks ago, Trump said:
But Greg is smart. And by the way, never wrestle him. You understand that? Never.
Any guy that can do a body slam, he’s my kind of … He was my guy.
I’m registered as a non-partisan, and I do my best to be open-minded on issues and personalities. But this year, I had two defaults: pro-woman, and anti-Republican.
Why pro-woman? Well, I’ve understood intellectually that women are underrepresented in government, of course, but it was brought home viscerally during the Kavanaugh hearings. I felt (no exaggeration) sick to my stomach as I watched that panel of old white (Republican) men cower behind their designated-hitter prosecutor during Dr. Blasey Ford’s testimony, and then come out of their shells to courageously rage at the Dems, dismissing Dr. Ford’s testimony and mirroring the teenager-inspired performance art of the petulant Kavanaugh (who apparently likes his beer).
We need more women in power. Period. Full stop.
And why anti-Republican? It’s not so much Trump himself—I share the view that Trump hijacked the Republican party. But the Republicans have at best given up their responsibility to check the abuses of the Executive branch, rolling over at almost every opportunity. At worst, they’ve accepted this Faustian bargain to ram through their agenda, whatever the cost.
Thank God Trump is so incompetent.
Anyway, I’m a proud drop in what I hope will be a blue wave, bringing along with it another, even bigger Year of the Woman.
