Voting

I voted Tuesday in the biggest election I ever have in terms of the relative importance of my personal vote. And it might be the biggest I ever get to vote in from here on out. Massachusetts voters essentially got to decide the fate of a LOT of U.S. legislation and thus domestic and foreign policy.

You know the story by now, obviously, and all the analysis and causes and ramifications, etc. It was something like 1.1 million votes on one side and 1 million votes on the other side. One of my friends blames "lazy Democrats" on the loss in such a (traditionally) Democratic state. Granted, there were a lot of variables in play that all contributed to the final tally. But I'm reminded of the Prop 8 issue in California in 2008. (To amend the state constitution to ban gay marriage, you know the story there too). The reason I think it's similar is that the ballot measure made it past a traditionally liberal electorate because they didn't pay attention to the issue until it was too late. Complacency and apathy. I fully support a democratic system and fully believe that we're only as good as the government we choose to elect (and the laws we consequently enact).