Katiie’s Beer

Caribou Coffee

I drove by my polling place at 8am and thought the parking lot looked full, so I drove across the parking lot to Caribou Coffee and treated myself. If I had voted, I would have received a 10 cent discount. Oh well! I rationalized my treat by telling myself that Election Day would be more fun if I was jazzed up on coffee and sugar. I would need to be alert to get my work done while periodically checking the internet for any news.

I intended to leave work 30 minutes early to vote before picking up my two kids from their schools, but that didn’t work out. So, the three of us headed together to the polling place. The kids spied the Caribou Coffee, so I dropped eight dollars buying election day treats before heading to the poll. I still hadn’t voted and lost out on another ten cent discount.

Children’s Civics Lesson

I thought that taking my kids to vote with me would be educational for them. Right? In fact, my daughter will vote in the next presidential election. (For you new parents out there - that will happen so fast you won’t believe it.) Well, my 15 year old baby daughter said she already knew how to vote, so she preferred to sit in the car and listen to songs on the radio (the ones I refuse to listen to when I’m in the car with her). So, while daughter enjoyed her Caribou Coffee cooler and listened to the radio, dear son and I headed in to vote. My son was very interested in this election and wanted to observe me. I moved through the tables and lines quickly, got my initialed ballot and headed for a table to cast my votes.

The Better Life Party?

The first vote went quickly, although I was distracted by the number of parties I’d never heard of. My son asked me about the parties he’d never heard of and I couldn’t really tell him much. I had heard of Nader, Peroutka and Badnarik, but not anyone else. When did Nader switch parties? These people never had a chance in Minnesota, the great swing state (not). We Minnesotans have been bombarded with non-stop presidential visits and commercials for months. It has been torture to try to watch TV or listen to the radio.

Here’s what my ballot looked like:

Green DAVID COBB AND PAT LAMARCHE
Republican GEORGE W. BUSH AND DICK CHENEY
Democratic-Farmer-Labor JOHN F. KERRY AND JOHN EDWARDS
Socialist Equality BILL VAN AUKEN AND JIM LAWRENCE
Socialist Workers ROGER CALERO AND ARRIN HAWKINS
Christian Freedom THOMAS J. HARENS AND JENNIFER A. RYAN
Better Life RALPH NADER AND PETER MIGUEL CAMEJO
Constitution MICHAEL PEROUTKA AND CHUCK BALDWIN
Libertarian MICHAEL BADNARIK AND RICHARD CAMPAGNA

Television Coverage

Where are the good old days when the television “experts” had the elections called by 6pm? So what if they were wrong and caused great harm to our elections in 2000? I have to admit that the television coverage of the elections was actually boring. That’s a good thing, I suppose.

Bloggers’ Election Coverage

I watched for a couple of hours and then headed to the computer to see if any bloggers were saying anything interesting. WorldMagBlog definitely had the most interesting posts and running comments.

One person wrote, in reference to Pat Robertson claiming that God told him that there would be a landslide victory for Bush, who would we hold accountable if Kerry won? I thought that was very funny.

Another commenter gave his prediction for the election: “God will sovereignly decide: Daniel 2:20-21 Daniel said, “Let the name of God be blessed forever and ever, For wisdom and power belong to Him. It is He who changes the times and the epochs; He removes kings and establishes kings; He gives wisdom to wise men And knowledge to men of understanding.

Also, Michael Moore, posing as Mystery Man, made comments throughout the night. Gee, is he a Lutheran? I can’t believe anyone thought it was really him, though; he obviously doesn’t care about the average person and would never take the time to find out what we think. It wouldn’t mesh with the reality he has created for himself.

The Temperance Party?

I came across this article this morning. Have you heard of the Temperance Party?
Behind the quirky, candidacy-as-novelty-act that has attracted the attention of national newspapers and television shows, including the “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart,” Amondson says he has an important message — even if it sometimes falls on drunken ears.

“Prohibition was America’s greatest 13 years,” he said, following with one of his favorite lines: “Drinking responsibly is like teaching a pig to eat with a spoon. Can’t happen.”

I was wrong about Minnesota swinging for Bush

On the radio this morning, I got to listen to pathetic people call in to complain that dirty political trickery is the reason behind the apparent Bush national victory. The term, “I smell a rat.” was actually used. Can you believe it?

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