Why I'm Not Voting Today

Tip jar n/t (2.25 / 4)

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by: Thurman Hart @ Tue Jun 03, 2008 at 19:30:32 PM UTC

With no more information (4.00 / 4)

than just your diary, I would say you should go vote for Ines Garcia Keim. You know her, you like her, and presumably you'd prefer her to win, considering she's running against two men you describe as "an HCDO tool" and "a total tool."

Your only hesitation seems to be that you think she may not have had sufficient outreach in Jersey City. But, you know enough about politics to realize that what appears to be lack of outreach is often more a product of lack of money.

So, while your right to vote includes your right to voluntarily refrain from voting for any number of reasons, your own diary actually gives you good reason to make the trip to the polls and bullet vote for Ines. Why not do that?

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by: Jeff Gardner @ Tue Jun 03, 2008 at 19:48:58 PM UTC

Plus (0.00 / 0)

As a very wise man pointed out today,

Small voting pools mean each voter has even more power than in regular elections.

So, your vote would be that much more powerful.

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by: Jeff Gardner @ Tue Jun 03, 2008 at 20:01:53 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Ines Garcia-Keim (4.00 / 2)

Jeff and I agree COMPLETELY on this, and as I was just reading your diary, Thurman, I was about to write almost exactly what Jeff did, and for the same reasons.

And I will add two things:

1. Thurman, you are precisely the kind of person who could assist Ines with that kind of outreach, in your hometown of Jersey City. We talk about this often in grassroots politics, that sometimes what's required of us is to be that person who makes things happen, who for example, might arrange for some of his neighbors and friends to meet at a diner for an informal chat with an interesting freeholder candidate. So often - and this happens to me too - you cannot believe that somebody else isn't already doing that, until you look around and realize you may be the one everyone else is waiting for to do it. That is in no way to castigate you - with toddler twins and your already impressive involvement in all kinds of politics. But I'd also suggest that's one of the reasons people might come out to meet Ines, because Thurman Hart issued the invitation.

2. I also want to tell you that at the DFA campaign Training we did at Monmouth University in April, we convened all the candidates for roundtable chat, with the NJ for Democracy exec board, DFA Chair Jim Dean and Newark Councilman Ron C. Rice. When I pitched the Why are you running? question to all of them, Ines was the first answer and it was clear, sure and dead-on. Paraphrasing (she's more eloquent than I):

I live in Hudson County. A tremendous amount of our tax dollars are spent by the Freeholders, and most of our citizens are paying more attention to other races than to what the Freeholders are doing. I'm going to be there as their advocate, and make sure their money is spent effectively for them, and on their behalf.

Ines Garcia-Keim is worth your considering. I hope she wins the Primary today. I think Jeff's right that her candidacy may be underfunded. That means she needs the Thurman Harts of Hudson County.

It's not a particularly snappy signature, but here's what I think we need in the next NJ Democratic State Chair.  

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by: Rosi Efthim @ Tue Jun 03, 2008 at 20:14:04 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Good reasons (0.00 / 0)

Yeah, I understand that money drives outreach - except that it doesn't cost anything to stand outside of the Stop 'n' Shop and shake hands.  If she wanted my help, all she had to do was ask - my email is pretty easy to get.  

I know why Ines was running for City Council of Hoboken a few years ago - and I schlepped down there to help her.  She's running to be MY representative in the county government.  Given that I'm a known factor to her and her supporters, it doesn't speak well for me to have to chase her down and beg to offer my support to her.  If I don't matter before the election, I can't see how I'll matter afterwards.

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by: Thurman Hart @ Tue Jun 03, 2008 at 21:17:35 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

More information is good (0.00 / 0)

The only contact I've had from her campaign was a mailer that arrived yesterday.  But I found her candidate profile on Hoboken Now.  It provides no reason why I would want to support her candidacy.  Her reasons are:

1) Corruption - obviously I am against this.  But she sites cases from 2002 - no one on the current Freeholder Board was involved in any of the cases she wants to - well, what does she want to do about them?  If she wants to say that one of her opponents is associated with that particular graft, then she needs to say so.  If not, then it's difficult to understand how electing her would make a difference.

2) Bus Service in the Heights - This must be what she means - but the fact is that buses still run along Palisades Ave - they are jitney buses, though.  Oh well, they still go where you need to go, right?  The route was abandoned by Red and Tan because it was losing money - she needs more detail to explain how she will make such a revenue-losing enterprise feasible.

3) Development - I actually have no problems with development along the JC-Hoboken border.  Pay-to-play is another matter, but development is a fact of life and not a bugaboo.

4) County budget - well, if Hoboken pays less into the county budget, it isn't difficult to figure out who will have to pay more.  That would be me - and Jersey City already has a higher assessment than Hoboken anyway.  Cutting a third of your district out of a major campaign point probably explains a lot about why she has been very quiet in these parts.

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by: Thurman Hart @ Tue Jun 03, 2008 at 22:02:51 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

About not voting (4.00 / 5)

Thurman, during the 2005 campaign where we first met, I remember an incident when I was with Tony Soares and a voter started grilling us on issues.  We did our best, and then Tony asked him:  "Are you now going to ask Dave Roberts the same questions?  Or do you have lower standards for him?"  At the time I thought Tony was a bit harsh on the voter.  Now I realize that one big reason why progressive candidates don't win elections in Hudson County is because we hold them to a higher standard than those we call "tools", or "machine" candidates.  

I am sorry I did not earn your vote because I did not shake your hand at the Stop & Shop or send you an e-mail.  Running in a district with 16,000 registered Democrats, our campaign employed many different ways to reach out to voters:  we posted a page on the DFA website and maintained a campaign website that was updated regularly (neither of my opponents had a website).  In Jersey City, I spoke at the meetings of 5 different neighborhood organizations, including RNA, Sgt. Anthony, Heights Hope and Jimmy King, campaigned in the parks and on Central (yes, right by the Stop & Shop) and Palisade Avenues and Franklin Street, went door-to-door in several districts and distributed hundreds of flyers and dozens of posters.  The warm reception I received there, especially in the Latino community, made us think the Heights would be the key to our victory.  So we spent a lot of time there and it is unfortunate I never crossed your path.  On the other hand, the Jersey Journal paid attention to our campaign and I earned their endorsement.  Many Hoboken friends sent e-mail blasts to their friends in the district, including Jersey City Heights.  I thought I had a great chance to win, and took over 2 months off from work and family to campaign.  

There is nothing gained by addressing your concerns on the issues since it seems that I have lost the election to the man who was chosen by the HCDO 11 hours before the filing petitions were due.  He got 600 votes in Jersey City Heights, and many of us are wondering how that happened without much campaigning on his part.  You did not come out to vote, but other people did and their votes were recorded for column C all the way.  Those people may not have done an extensive analysis of the issues, the candidates and how they ran their campaigns, but their votes were counted.  And in an election campaign, that is all that matters in the end.

Best regards,

Ines Garcia Keim  

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by: Ines @ Thu Jun 05, 2008 at 03:17:07 AM UTC

[ Parent ]