A quick, very spoilery scene from many years in the future to put me over 5,000 words before noon.

Galatea, main spaceport receiving bay
Approx. standard year 1050 AB, second morning
Dasa & Ruth.

( Dasa finally gets married. )

Tomorrow, as you probably know unless you're very, very lucky, is midterm election day in the good old US of A. My state has several very close races (due, as usual, to a combination of complacency and stupidity on the part of the local Democratic Party, who should've had an easy time of it).

I'm voting a straight party ticket.

I know that somehow or other, it's become fashionable in the past few years to not vote based on party, and to claim that makes you moderate or better informed or more rational or something.

I'm making this post to say that if you care at *all* about the direction this country's going to take in the next two years, you should be voting a straight party ticket, at least in the nationally relevant races (Congress, Senate, and Governor, minimally.)

Sure, in a perfect world, we would judge every candidate based on their individual merit and voting record alone, but it's not a perfect world. And with a midterm election, this one *especially*, the *overall* results will have a lot more effect on policy decisions in the next few years than any individual candidate's work. Both parties will be looking at the new make-up of the House and Senate and claiming that that result - by party - tells them the will of the American people.

I don't care if the local candidate in your party of choice is sleazy, slimy, boring, practically a member of the other party judging by his voting record, completely batshit insane, or even sleeping with your mother. In this election, it's going to be the *party* that matters, not the people. If the Republicans keep Congress, the President will take it as justification to keep doing what he's been doing. If the Democrats take Congress, they'll take it as justification to do everything in their power to block the President.

That is the *only* issue that really matters in this election: which party controls the Congress. Everything else is just distractions.

And both parties have been doing everything they can in the past few weeks to get you distracted, to convince you to vote based on other things. As muddy and irrelevant as possible. Because they know it's the people who claim to be moderates that will decide it all. Local issues, ancient history, political issues, personal issues, financial issues, ethical issues, whatever. Ignore them.

If you want your vote to really matter, vote based on whether you like the President or not.

(Also, just plain vote!!!!!) (Also, look up your local ballot questions and referendums. Those can be just as important as your local elected officials - in fact, they're often drafted for the sole purpose of getting around your elected officials - and the more boring they look, the tricksier and more dangerous they probably are. An overview of Maryland's is available through the state board of elections, here. And now, in the comments, the sparkling new lawyer lindentreeisle explains it all! For Marylanders, anyway.)