The Washington Vote

Almost everywhere I go, it seems like I hear McCain-this or Obama-that and Palin-scmalin, but as a semi-educated young voter (I got a 5 on the AP Gov test, but I’ll guiltily admit that I get most of my political news from John Stewart, Steven Colbert and The Stranger) I’d like to hear more a little more Gregoire-what? and Rossi-Republican, going on.

Let’s face it Washington, as important as the presidential candidates are, it’s the governor and state legislators and the levies and initiatives and propositions on the ballot that will have the most direct impact on our daily lives.

This is going to come across as jaded, which I know probably isn’t something most people are used to hearing from the crazy optimist kid (or deluded fool, whichever you prefer), but in the grand scheme of things it doesn’t matter who wins the presidential race. To a scary majority of Americans, all an election means is more annoying commercials and road signs to ignore and a different nut in the white house to blame for everything once it’s all over.

Talk to these same people about their neighborhood or local taxes or their commute and they’ll be able to tell you exactly what they don’t like. Most of those decisions aren’t made by the boobs in the District of Columbia; they’re made by the boobs in Olympia.

A special concern of mine comes into play when we talk about the “prior review thing” in the Puyallup School District. That decision was made by the superintendant and school board, one of whom is running for the state house if I remember correctly. These are good people with good intentions behind their decision, but they fail to understand the impact of what they’ve done, and the only way we can show them that is to prove to them that we are voting constituents worthy of their attention.

If you’re voting this November 4, vote for your candidate, but take the time to look at the rest of the ballot as well.