Balk the vote

I can't decide whether or not I should vote in the DC Democratic primary. It's coming up in the next week or so, so I have to come up with a stand on this. On the one hand, I believe very strongly in civic duty and all that. Since I work for an organization promoting free and fair elections in emerging democracies, it would be a little hypocritical of me to shirk my political freedoms here at home.

On the other hand, my candidate Wesley Clark is not on the ballot. And there's no write-in. So should I vote for a candidate I don't really support, thus falsely inflating the number of backers he can claim? DC activists are urging democrats to vote in the primary, saying that the early primary date was chosen as a way to draw the nation's attention to DC's lack of voting rights. I'm all for parading my disenfranchisement with a mournful, martyred expression for others to see, but I'm not certain how voting for Carol Mosely-Braun will accomplish this. "Look at DC voters!" the nation will say. "They want to elect Al Sharpton! Let's make sure they never get to elect a representative!"

Not sure what to do about it, but I'll probably vote because the peer pressure in this town leans heavily towards being a good citizen, unlike the peer pressure in high school or in other towns which leans heavily towards smoking pot. All those kids in high school who were running for student council prez instead of crouching below a fragrant fog behind their Oldsmobiles in the parking lot? Yeah, they're running this town. Whereas the latter stayed in parents' basements and also Austin. I wonder where all the clarinet players landed?


All this is truly an attempt to take my mind of the horrible thing that happened this morning that I'm still too scarred to write about. Give me a few more hours and I'll try to share the horror.