I have voted...
I know how it is supposed to feel - I should walk out of that booth on a high, like a super-hero... salute the [add appropriate nation's] flag, grin so the light going dink off of a tooth, and generally feel I have done my part to uphold Freedom, and Democracy, and Justice, and all the virtues we want to believe society holds dear in making itself better.

Basically, I want to walk out with a sense of being Superman, Captain America and Guile combined, whether I'm in the USA or not.

But that is always ruined...

Having the "privilege" of being in London, I got to vote for a potential mayor, a potential London assembly candidate, and... a third form also with a list of names wi...

I have voted...
I know how it is supposed to feel - I should walk out of that booth on a high, like a super-hero... salute the [add appropriate nation's] flag, grin so the light going dink off of a tooth, and generally feel I have done my part to uphold Freedom, and Democracy, and Justice, and all the virtues we want to believe society holds dear in making itself better.

Basically, I want to walk out with a sense of being Superman, Captain America and Guile combined, whether I'm in the USA or not.

But that is always ruined...

Having the "privilege" of being in London, I got to vote for a potential mayor, a potential London assembly candidate, and... a third form also with a list of names willing to debase themselves in all manner of degrading ways just for a cross in a box. And my, oh my, oh my, what a selection of mediocrity there was.

If there was even one candidate on the list that seemed competent it would have been appealing, regardless of whether I agreed with their policies or not. But no, it was a long list of people who somehow all seemed less suitable than the others... one of the forms had 13 choices, and I almost turned the sheet over in the hope there were more on the other side...

(Actually, the other side was blank. Yes, that was a tempting choice)

It's a bit like criminals... and yes, the parallel with politicians is a very easy one to make. But if you're going to be robbed, you want to think it's by someone who has turned the crime into an art, who burgles your house by descending in like Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible - all planning and finesse. A few lasers won't hurt either. If a politician was going to be self-serving and venal, it wouldn't be so bad if it was done with effort and planning and flair. Instead, we get a selection of people who may believe themselves following a higher ideal, but largely do it by pointing fingers at each other and going "he's got fewer ideas than me. It'll all be his fault!". This is like like being robbed by someone who gets caught within five steps of your kicked in door and goes "It's not my fault, his doors wouldn't get damaged if he didn't close them."

I know this journal could be saying something worthwhile about the flaws in democracy, where it becomes a popularity contest of hollow promises; it could be about the need for elections to allow for a "none of the above" box to register disappointment; it could even be about the political parties being so generic that it's hard to choose between them all. But no, I want it to be a piece about how stupid I am - I have never not voted, taking part in every election since I turned 18. In all that time, I have also never left the voting booth feeling I have backed the right choice, merely taken the time to whittle down the wrong ones to "the one least likely to fuck it up".

That's how it was this evening. I still haven't learned my lesson, and got my hopes dashed.

Still, all the people standing haven't learned their lessons either, and made it worth my time going there to vote in the first place.

Blah. May the best man, woman or party win. Though as "best" simply means "better than the other ones", it's not a very high bar.