My Primary Ballot

This was all of yesterday's mail.

Only one of the candidates identifies with a party (Democrat).  Planned Parenthood is highlighted (a good thing) but other than that there are just buzz words to consider.

There are alliances forged on walking neighborhoods and knocking on doors together.  Does liking one of those candidates mean I should lean toward the others?  

Do I vote for my young friend, who will answer the phone if I call, or do I vote for a more traditionally seasoned candidate who might be perceived as more competent?

I have strong feelings for some races, and no idea at all about others.  The Voter's Guide is my go-to bathroom reading; it's as good a place as any to ponder.  The statements aren't that interesting, but they are a good place to start for the basics.  

The number of Republican candidates railing against woke investments (whatever they are; our socially responsible portfolio has outperformed the market for several years now; well, it's only taxpayer's money that is at risk, after all) is matched only by those opposed to CRT (preferring, I suppose, the white male gaze of history). Bodily autonomy for women is not addressed.  Nor is any proposal for caring for all these soon to be unwanted babies entering the world.   

Guns and the 2nd Amendment also figure heavily in their statements.  I shudder to think what our state would look like without Gabby Giffords as a native daughter.  

Apparently (as I read somewhere; kudos to the original author) Republicans believe that life begins at conception and ends at a mass shooting.

Democrats don't seem to like guns or regulating female bodies.  They do have plans for extravagant social programs, offering to tax the rich to pay for better schools, a plan which the voters approved and which the Legislature keeps trying to overturn, and which seems like a great idea until you realize that lots of rich people want to retire here and they don't want to hear about a tax surcharge on the wealthiest 1% of them.  

And Americans are aspirational; we all assume that, given the right circumstance, we could be right up there with Bill Gates.  No one wants to anticipate paying more taxes, even when the average increase would have been about $23,000.... not bad when your taxable income is over $1,166,666.  

So we're stuck in a purple state, with the realities of the Wild West bumping up against a dysfunctional State Government (see the fraudit) and a whole host of new voters - Northerners moving with their companies (see Caterpillar in Tucson); increasing numbers of Latinos registering;  and serious efforts to counter voter suppression.

So, when Pilates Diva texted to ask for my advice on her family's ballots, I said Katie Hobbs for Governor and the rest is undecided.  She replied that she liked  the third candidate in our Congressional race, a young engineer who works at Raytheon.  

Can he be a good guy if he works for a weapons manufacturer.... albeit the second largest employer in Tucson?  

This just gets harder and harder.