Although he started the game as my fourth or fifth choice from the crowd of ten, by the time the primary came to Vermont, it was a no-brainer. I voted for Obama as well as doing some volunteer grunt work out of his Montpelier campaign office. I’m also an Obama delegate to the Vermont Democratic Party’s state convention coming up in a matter of days, which means I’ll be able to vote on which 3 men and which 3 women should comprise the 6 National Delegates we’ll be choosing at that point in the process (more will be chosen later, by the group chosen at the convention. It’s weird.) I’ve avoided making endorsements because I know a lot of the candidates, and I don’t wanna have to choose…. also, I want to be open minded for the people I don’t know. Who should get the nod from the assembled throngs? The people who did the most work? The people who give the best speech? Bright-eyed bushy-tailed newcomers who should get a cool opportunity?
But I’m kidding everybody if I don’t acknowledge two people I will definitely vote for. First is Vermont’s premiere political blogger and number 1 Obama booster in the local media – you know him, you love him, and you may have had him for a class once – Philip Baruth (I mean, c’mon – do I really have to tell you guys I’m supporting Philip?). Sure it would mean there’ll be competition from the convention for blogging coverage, but I’ll just have to make certain that he stays too drunk to type.
Also, I’ll be voting for Carolyn Dwyer. Yeah, Carolyn already has all the fun with all things Democratic in Vermont, but the fact is she busted her butt volunteering for the Obama campaign and really put her skills and contacts to work, so she has seriously earned it. And our kids are friends. Gotta make sure the kids are happy. (Also, I’m just informed that Neil Jensen, aka “Vermonter” on the sidebar, is on the candidate list… it’d be freakin’ criminal if he doesn’t get in, with all the work he’s done… I’ll be voting for him, too)
And that leaves me 3 more votes for other candidates, and I aint sayin no more.
…except to mention that there is one person you won’t be able to vote for for anything: me. Regular readers will recall that I was thinking very seriously about running for the position of Democratic National Committeeman, to take the whole gate-crashing blog-schtick straight into the DNC itself, but I’ve decided against it – simply because I may have an opportunity to implement a project very near and dear to my heart, and taking on something else under those circumstances would just be nuts. Maybe next time… thanks to all the folks who have been encouraging me (and I don’t mean to let anybody down – honest).
(UPDATE: Oh! Selene Hofer-Shall is on that list. I gotta vote for Selene. Uh-oh… now I’m just down to 2. Ack!)