Don't vote angry

At long last, Election Day is upon us. Now we can finally cast our ballots for the cast of characters who have been dominating (and mostly degrading) our public discourse for the past several months. How am I going to vote, you ask? None of your business. In general, I'd be happy to employ the old throw-the-bums-out strategy, but in some of this year's races there don't appear to be any non-bums on the ballot. At any rate, I've always thought people should base their votes on calm, rational thinking rather than rage. The whole "we're-mad-as-hell-and-we're-taking-our-country-back" approach is a little too medieval for my taste.

Anyway, what about you? Will tomorrow be your first time voting with the new electronic ballot machines? Click this link for a video that will help you familiarize yourself with the type of machine used in Fulton and Montgomery counties: ImageCast Tutorial.

If you're following the political adventures of hometown-kid-done-good Harry Wilson, you'll be excited to hear he has somehow managed to close a 17-point gap in the polls, bringing himself neck-and-neck with incumbent state comptroller Thomas DiNapoli. That's according to the folks at the Siena College Research Institute. Six months ago, I didn't think Harry had a chance in this Democrat-heavy state, but since then his campaign has built up a serious head of steam, and who knows what will happen tomorrow?

As a longtime newspaper guy, I've always taken editorial endorsements with a grain of salt, but I suspect they might be making a difference in the Wilson-DiNapoli contest. Wilson has earned the editorial support of 30 New York newspapers, including several that are generally thought to be aligned with Democrats, such as the New York Times. If you review The Leader-Herald's record of political endorsements, you'll find we do not necessarily lean toward one party or the other. Before we make any endorsement, we consider the candidates' past achievements and their positions on key issues. I'm sure most newspapers take this process as seriously as we do. Otherwise, they'd all be backing Jimmy "The Rent is Too Damn High" McMillan for governor.

Personally, I can't wait for this election season to be over. It's dragged on for too damn long.