Local Voting Chicanery

I headed over to my polling place, which is across the street from my house, shortly after noon today. As usual, I had absolutely no difficulty in voting. I gave my name to the poll worker and signed the voters' ledger, with no need to show identification. I know a bunch of the poll workers, so it was a social call as well as a civic duty and an opportunity to exercise my rights as a citizen. As an added bonus, there was a bake sale to benefit the PTA of the school which served as polling place... one dollar cupcakes for the win!

One of this year's developments in local politics has been the creation of a "third way" so-called Women's Equality Party to undermine support for the genuinely progressive Working Families Party. It was a real dirtbag move, because Cuomo received the support of the Working Families Party... it was particularly cynical because, in order for the party to achieve the fifty-thousand votes that it needs in order to remain on a ballot line for the next four years, its supporters have to vote for Cuomo. Talk about having your detractors over a barrel!

Such national sounding boards as The Nation, Daily Kos and Move On have criticized Cuomo's cynical move. In a particularly off-putting move, the name of the party makes criticism of such seem scummy... I mean, what kind of jerk is against women's equality?

I have to say, I held my nose as I voted for Cuomo, and voted a straight Working Families Party ticket. I'm not happy with Cuomo, but I couldn't take the chance that NY State's genuinely progressive party gets dropped from the ballot. Yeah, over a barrel...