My (protest) vote

For the first time in 14 years, I cast my vote as an Arkansan. I must confess that I did not get nearly as involved in this campaign as I have in years past. The primary reason for my lack of participation was being "out of the loop" on the local political front. I firmly resolve to change this in the future. It was my great honor to cast my vote for Vic Snyder in the congressional race. Many years ago, I was a waiter/bartender at El Chico's on Geyer Springs Road in Little Rock and Vic was a regular patron. I had the opportunity on many occassions to chat with him and we developed a strong rapport. I don't know how the topic of me being gay came up, but I will never forget his words of encouragement. He is truly a class act and I believe that he is a remarkable asset for our state.

I struggled with my decision on who to vote for in the governor's race. There was never a chance I would vote for Asa Hutchinson, but I debated long and hard about the other choices. I am generally a loyal Democrat and in most cases vote for my party's candidate. However, I was so disgusted by Mike Beebe's flip-flopping on the gay foster parent issue that I had to truly wrestle with how to cast my vote. My first instinct was to vote for the lesser of two evils, but I evntually decided to vote for Jim Lendall, the Green party candidate. I know that many people will say that I wasted my vote on someone with no chance of winning or (worse) that I have helped Asa's bid for the top post. However, I feel that if we continue to elect Democrats that don't support our community, then we give them no incentive whatsoever to do so. I know that in the past, Georgia Equality, a gay political group I was a member of in Atlanta, had asked its membership to abstain voting for either candidate when they were found lacking on gay issues. I had considered abstaining totally, but then I remembered that Jim Lendall had attended Capital Pride and had spoken to the group. Now, I am not generally a single-issue voter, but to me I decided that it would be worth sending a message to the political community at-large that the gay vote is not to be discounted! I encourage everyone to vote their conscience today and I hope that we have a major shift in the balance of power. God Bless America where we have the right to vote--- may we all exercise this right thoughtfully.