Go Ahead, Throw Your Vote Away

chromatic on 2008-04-09T07:45:40

John McCain is a senator from Arizona. Barack Obama is a senator from Illinois. Hillary Clinton is a senator from New York.

Why in the world would I vote for someone who by November 2008 will have spent at least a year campaigning instead of representing his or her district in the Senate? Some work ethic.

Because

pudge on 2008-04-17T05:01:51

Why in the world would I vote for someone who by November 2008 will have spent at least a year campaigning instead of representing his or her district in the Senate?

Well, McCain has at least spent a much greater proportion of his Senate career, and of his life, representing his district than the other two. And more than most other Senators and Congressmen, as well.

That aside, I'd think it would be "throwing away your vote" even more to vote for someone other than those three. ;-) (Then again, I voted for Browne in 1996, so I guess I'm a hypocrite.)

Re:Because

chromatic on 2008-04-17T07:03:09

I've never lived in Arizona, but paint me surprised if the people of Senator McCain's district elected him to spend so much time not actually representing them in the Senate. Your boss and my boss would both have something to say if we spent the past year not doing our jobs.

Re:Because

pudge on 2008-04-17T08:18:03

I've never lived in Arizona, but paint me surprised if the people of Senator McCain's district elected him to spend so much time not actually representing them in the Senate
It depends on who you ask. He's very popular there after many years of service -- winning with 77 percent of the vote in 2004, which was four years after his last run for President -- and I imagine many, if not most, do want him to run for President.

Not that I'd be surprised if many people there don't.
Your boss and my boss would both have something to say if we spent the past year not doing our jobs.
True enough, but OTOH, I think the overwhelming majority of what Congress does is a waste of time (and largely unconstitutional) anyway. It's not so much the time he spends in Congress or not, but he spends his time on and misses. So if a specific event can be identified that he should have participated in, that's something. But overall? Eh. Especially for Arizonians who, like me, by-and-large have a general dislike of the federal government anyway.