My voting experience

I showed up at my polling place at 6:30 this morning. I like going then because there is never a line. I mean, stores around here don't even open until 10 on the weekends, so I knew I was ahead of the curve.

Anyway, I walk in and there is a guy ahead of me with 2 people working the voter lists (the lists are broken up alphabetically). He got his info, but then he started asking about his mom, who apparently was going to tear herself away from Telemundo and waddle in later. This was taking a good 45 seconds, with the highlight being him asking one of the monitors if his madre was registered there. The monitor responded, "If she's on the list then she is." Good answer. I caught a glimpse at this guy's last name, and let's just say I bet his mom is going to attempt some voter fraud as an illegal alien, if you know what I mean.

Next, they ask him what kind of ballot he wants (Democrat, Republican, Independent, or Green[?]). He responds with, "Democrat, all the way. I'm sick of Bush."

Now...

Regardless of what anyone thinks of the President, let's break this down. First, President Bush is constitutionally barred from running for another term in office. For people like this voter, let me translate: no matter how you vote in this election, he's leaving office on January 21, 2009. Your ballot here has no bearing on that fact.

Second, let's say the President is as nefarious as his most insane critics make him out to be, and he found a way to run for a third term. Presumably he'd be running as a Republican. How, then, does getting a Democratic ballot help get him out of office? If you really want him out, ask for a Republican ballot! Then you could vote against him directly today.

The reason I am making fun of this doofus is to point out the general ignorance (or, in this guy's case, I'll blame it on stupidity) of the voting populace. I understand that most people don't have the interest or the time to follow things as closely as I do. However, these are basic principles of our constitution and then primary voting system. This guy gets to vote?

Another explanation is that he knows this stuff and he's just infected with BDS. BDS makes otherwise normal people lose their minds, so it's possible. Chicago does have a high rate of infection.

My experience was otherwise pleasant. The only races of note on my ballot were for president and the Senate. Most were blank, meaning no one ran.