California Voting

I had hoped for better. Really, I had. There was the wave of people, five or six hundred, I guess, who overwhelmed the sidewalks of Santa Monica on their walk to the pier, for three city blocks, both sides of the street, in order to reenact a historical tea party. There were the two or three individuals committed to canvassing in every community in Los Angeles. There were the banners, huge, good-looking banners, we saw them everywhere. No other candidate had banners up. And we saw more bumper stickers for Ron Paul than for any other candidate. I thought in California, he would at least get 15% of the vote.

What gives?

The only way I figure, is that every single person who voted for Ron Paul here, not only knew why they voted for him, but they also actively campaigned for him and were quite vocal about their support. Where, apparently quite a few people voted for Giuliani, Thompson, (who had already dropped out, by the way) and Romney and McCain, either without knowing why, or without having a really good reason, apparently not really caring whether or not they won. Is there any other way to explain why the candidate with the most signs, banners, t-shirts, pins and bumper stickers on public display, got only 4.3% of the vote?

I'm dismayed at my state's recklessness.

"If a nation expects to be both ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be." -Thomas Jefferson

Apparently grass roots efforts are futile, in my state. Then again, sometimes missionary work is apparently futile. Still, I think there must be a more effective place to pour my energy.

Two weeks after the primary, another big beautiful Ron Paul banner appeared on the boulevard, where one hadn't been before. Two little girls paraded around our yard in step, carrying a homemade Ron Paul sign between them, chanting, "Ron Paul for President, two thousand and eight! Wake up, America, before it's too late!" We saw two Ron Paul bumper stickers on the freeway, within thirty seconds of each other. And we've gathered up our remaining literature and collected some of the signs we put out, to be used in another state.

*I'm sorry. The reason Mike Huckabee's name was not mentioned above, is because I can see how a thinking person could come up with a reason to vote for Huckabee, if they tried hard enough. ;) I in no means intended to slight him in name recognition or number of mentions. I just didn't have the guts to classify all of his supporters as idiots.