Why I Caved.

Yesterday a friend of mine asked if I was planning to vote in the recall election today.  I said no.  I am a Maryland resident and want to keep my Maryland residency for when I move back after graduating.  Why go through the hassle of becoming a Wisconsin resident to vote once (actually twice, with the presidential election in November. I planned to vote absentee.)?  My friend didn't ask any more questions, but smiled at me and said ok.

I voted today (clearly my friend knows me too well).  Here's why...

The election in Wisconsin today is a historic one.  The special recall election is infrequently utilized, and there have only been two successful recalls of governors in the United States - 1921 and 2003.

I have written a number of blog posts in part about the Wisconsin recall election (here for example).  Governor Scott Walker started sealing  his spot on the special ballot starting last February when collective bargaining rights were revoked from unions.  Since then, Wisconsinites have become enraged about everything from concealed carry legislation to education spending.  Many people and groups who were not originally involved in the rallies against Walker have since joined the recall effort - Sierra Club, Planned Parenthood, and the Teaching Assistants Association, to name a few.  Walker's getting booted out of office then, right?  Not exactly.

Walker has raised himself an obscene amount of money, mostly from out-of-state supporters. Walker has raised over $30 million.  This FAR surpasses any opponent that he faces.

Walker also remains very popular with much of the state.  Conservative voters in Wisconsin value the gun rights and religious liberties that Walker supports.  In fact predictions for today's election are pretty evenly split (with a slight edge given to Walker within the margin of error).

Last month, the primary election determined that Tom Barrett, Mayor of Milwaukee, would run against Walker.  Barrett and Walker faced off in 2010 for the governor slot - Walker won with 52% to Barrett's 46%.

So WHY am I voting?  Is it that I have a grudge with Walker's latest policy, or maybe that I want to see him reclaim his rightful role in office?  Do I think Barrett is a thieving corrupt politician and I want to keep him out, or maybe I want Barrett to have a successful rematch against Walker?

What it comes down to is this: I believe in the democratic process.  It's not perfect by any means.  Whenever I hear someone I know say "if Obama/Romney wins, I'm leaving the country," all I can think is...yes! GO!  Because this is how the grand ol' USA works.  Sometimes the person we vote for wins and sometimes the person we vote for loses.  Sometimes we hate the policies in place and sometimes we celebrate them.  But we have that choice.  So if you want to flee to Canada, by all means.  But if you're doing it because you think Obama is a socialist who wants free health care then you might want to pick another country.

That being said, I think a vote says something.  If someone you didn't like was put in office, should you be able to pull them out of office two years later?  Maybe not.  But given that this is how our country works, we should participate in that democratic process.  How I see it is this: if you don't participate, you aren't allowed to complain about the result (and I really like to complain).

So there it is.  It doesn't matter who I voted for.  What matters is that I voted.