How I voted 2006 style

Bob Corker v. Harold Ford Jr. - U.S. Senate

I voted for Mr. Corker in this one. My reason is simple, I believe the totality of Mr. Corker's experience in the Mayor's office, in private business, and in state government give him the ingenuity and innovation necessary to be a successful Senator. Congressmen Ford turned me off a while back when he called for a withdrawal of troops in Iraq but his most recent behavior is perplexing to say the least. Also his plan for Iraq, to divide the nation into three regions, would unfairly ignore two constitutional referendums and a national election-the entire democratic progress made over three years would be ignored. The plan doesn't take into account how an autonomous Kurdish region would affect the Kurdish population in Turkey and how a Shia region would interact with Iran. Ford is more conservative than most liberals, he is a supporter of the 2nd amendment and also believes marriage is between a man and woman and I liked the fact that he pledged to term limit himself.

John J. Duncan Jr. v. John Greene - U.S. House of Representatives, 2nd District

I voted for Democratic candidate John Greene as a protest vote. Congressmen Duncan has not been supportive of the Iraq war since the beginning and has in fact voted against it and supplemental spending bills several times. Plus he's been in office since I was eight years old, that's plenty of time.

Jim Bryson v. Phil Bredesen - Governor of Tennessee

Easy, Phil Bredesen. He is strong supporter of education. He handled the TennCare crisis well and the man is a genuine hunter and conservationist. He works well with both sides of the aisle and seeks consensus and not partisanship. I like him and I wish Democrats would pay more attention to him. He's a dark horse candidate for the Democratic nomination for President in 2008 and if not then a qualified candidate on anyone's cabinet.

Constitutional Amendment 1 - Tennessee state Constitution

Text reads:

Shall Article XI of the Constitution of the State of Tennessee be amended by adding the following language as a new, appropriately designated section:

SECTION 3. The historical institution and legal contract solemnizing the relationship of one man and one woman shall be the only legally recognized marital contract in this state. Any policy or law or judicial interpretation, purporting to define marriage as anything other than the historical institution and legal contract between one man and one woman, is contrary to the public policy of this state and shall be void and unenforceable in Tennessee. If another state or foreign jurisdiction issues a license for persons to marry and if such marriage is prohibited in this state by the provisions of this section, then the marriage shall be void and unenforceable in this state.

I voted no and do not support this amendment. I believe constitutions exist to limit the powers of government and protect the rights of individuals. A definition of what marriage is has no place in a constitution but rather as a state law. On the flip side would you define what divorce is? Cheating? If we let the Constitution define the marriage aspect of a relationship why not the end of a relationship. A slippery slope is what I worry about. I support marriage between a man and a woman but if gays and lesbians want to get married go ahead, just call is something else.

The tally adds up to two votes for Democrats and one for the Republicans and a no vote supporting the Marriage amendment.

Random notes: Yesterday we got four phone calls at my parents house asking us to go and vote, one of which was from President Bill Clinton. How sweet of him. I thought I would have a little fun with it and play a joke on my mom and call the house pretending I was him ask for her to go vote. It went something like this,

Phone rings

Mom: Hello?

Me: Hi there sugar this is President Bill Clinton and I just wanted to call and tell you how important it is for you to go and vote. I myself will be supporting Harold Ford Jr. for Senate and would hope you do the same. He's been to a Playboy bunny party after the Super Bowl and boy would I have loved to have gone to that one. Shoot yeah! Ohhah gotta go, Hillary's here. Go vote honey!

Mom: audible laughter. Barrett is that you! You need to let your father hear this!

Finally, I miss those old fashioned lever-action voting machines where you could hear the gears of democracy in action! Electronic voting machines take away the old fashioned goodness out of the voting process. Sigh.