Endorsements
We can’t wait until this election season is over and we can get back to mocking pet boutiques in Kerrytown, but we thought we’d make some endorsements, since everyone seems to be doing it.
Larry Kestenbaum is a friend of ours, but that shouldn’t stop you from voting for him for Washtenaw County Clerk and Register of Deeds. His comments here and on his own blog show that he really gets it about student issues, housing, the role of the Internet and just about everything else you can think of. He’s a politics geek in the best possible sense, with an encyclopedic knowledge of everything political and the nuanced insight to make sense of it.
We were planning to vote for Jane Lumm for mayor just to throw out the incumbent - and Hieftje was actually looking less bad of late when his Sierra Club pals started to turn on him. But after Friday’s debate, we feel good about voting for her as more than a protest vote. On the one issue on which the candidates seemed to differ most, accessory dwellings (see summary here,) she outlined a clear position that indicated a willingness to stand up to neighborhood groups. Murph’s comment on Arbor Update sums up our general feeling.
We also endorse Election Night Drink Specials. Heartily.
Being a desciple of the Doug Kelbaugh school of increasing density downtown and creative solutions for affordable housing, I also support accessory dwellings (unlike my OFW counterparts), but I will be voting for Heiftje. I think Lumm is just paying lip service to the concept.
posted by OFW insurgent on November 1st, 2004 at 9:18 am eOverheard this weekend at a kid’s soccer game. Two dads, both Republicans, talking about the election and how few conservatives there are in AA. One says, “You know, I realized the other day that if there is ever ethnic cleansing in Ann Arbor, we’ll be the first to go.”
posted by dr. cookie on November 1st, 2004 at 10:38 am eFYI…Leopold’s is doing 1/2 off beer for the “i voted” stickers. Not sure why it’s not on the site.
posted by todd leopold on November 1st, 2004 at 11:38 am eI’m voting for the mayor despite real skepticism about his commitment to a number of progressive issues that he pays lip service to, for one main reason–I cannot bring myself to vote for any Republican during a year when the party is following a racist plan to disfranchise minority voters in a number of key states including Michigan. If you don’t know about this check out talkingpointmemo.com. I also can’t vote Republican in a year when party leaders in MI have pushed a ban on gay marriage as a transparent political wedge to rally social conservatives at the expense of gay and lesbian equality. I think that on principle any decent-minded Republican would speak out against the party on both of these issues. Maybe this isn’t fair to Lumm, who strikes me as quite moderate and who doesn’t support Prop 2, but there it is anyway. I’m not a party line Democrat and have occasionally voted Green in local elections.
On the ADU issue, I think Lumm is sincere. She pretty much has a chamber of commerce political outlook and the chamber is a vocal supporter of ADUs. The mayor’s cowardice on ADUs is the best reason to vote against him, in my view, because it is symbolic of a broader refusal to stand up for principles in tough situations. If we had a Green candidate in this election for mayor I would lodge a protest vote. This is probably about as incoherent as the AA News tortured endorsement of GWB.
posted by Matt on November 1st, 2004 at 11:59 am eI don’t know, to me that’s like avoiding Democrats a few decades ago because Daley’s machine was threatening to cut off immigrants’ water and electricity if they didn’t vote. Yeah, those were Chicago Democrats, not national Democrats, so slightly different situation, I guess.
posted by ann arbor is overrated on November 1st, 2004 at 1:31 pm eI don’t know what “student issues” have to do with the clerk position, other than registering to vote? Enlighten me, I may be ignorant as to what a clerk does.
posted by Geegogh on November 1st, 2004 at 3:53 pm eMatt, you bring up an excellent point and almost made me decide to vote for Hieftje simply based on the national and state GOP’s loathsomeness. However, AAIO has an excellent point as well. Keep in mind, I grew up in the South, where progressive voters, until relatively recently, had a choice between incredibly racist Democrats and slightly less racist Republicans who didn’t care as much about the working classes (if they were white, of course). Ernest Gaines, in his novel THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MISS JANE PITTMAN, has a great bit in there where Miss Jane, who was born a slave in Louisiana and lived well into the civil rights movement of the 60s, talks about Huey Long and racism–”Everybody goes on about how Huey Long said ‘n’ this and ‘n’ that. But everybody else said, ‘N, go pick up that bale of cotton.’ Huey, he said, ‘N, go pick up that free textbook and learn how to read.” The Democratic Party in the South had some real grotesque characters (and in the North, with Daley and others), but there were a trickle of good people too. And even today, as a pretty well-confirmed progressive or liberal Democrat, I’m incredibly leery of judging people (even political candidates unless they’re appalling) based on their political party. Mind you, if I do end up voting for Lumm (I’ve got about fifteen hours to make up my mind), I’ll send her a letter stating how disappointed I am that she’s a Republican and that she hasn’t stood up to her own party on their hideous stance regarding social issues (like their obnoxious Prop 2). I doubt she can do anything about that, but if I’m voting for her, I think she should know (or should have the letter handled by one of her operatives and subsequently destroyed–whatever) that at least one of her supporters has severe misgivings.
By the way, I refuse to type the above word in full, so y’all will just have to deal with it; I hope this isn’t a problem.
posted by Lazaro on November 1st, 2004 at 4:52 pm eGeegogh, voter registration is the biggest example of “student issues” that the Clerk handles, and I hardly thing it’s something to dismiss. Consider how much confusion students face about registering to vote WRT drivers’ licenses addresses, for example. It’s so incoherant that the ACLU was distributing misleading information about students and voter registration addresses! If anybody has the ability to cut through state law and figure out what students really need to know, and to subsequently care enough to make an active effort to get that information to students, it’s Larry. In general, though, “student issues” is a pretty vague and broad topic that covers more than couches–if any issue has a dimension that affects students differently than others, I have faith that Larry will notice that dimension and care about it.
posted by Murph on November 1st, 2004 at 4:59 pm eWell, I went to my usual polling place this morning (Community Center on North Main) and for the first time since I’ve been voting there (15 years), there was a HUGE line! This is great by the way. Most of the folks were obviously new voters (students) and I was happy to wait. They were pretty organized. There were a few dour-faced goon-types sitting on folding chairs behind the poll workers–I am assuming they are “challengers” waiting for their chance to leap upon undesireables…signs all over the place about voter challenges and rights, etc.
I’m driving folks to the polls later today for Moveon.org, but will definitely drop by both the Arbor Brew Pub and Leopold’s to collect on those voter discounts. See you there perhaps.
posted by OFW insurgent on November 2nd, 2004 at 9:58 am eI showed up at my polling place, AA Twp Hall, at about 10 to 7 this morning, and was around 50th in line. I’ve never seen a line that long there before.
posted by tom on November 2nd, 2004 at 10:14 am eI was at Haisley at 6:30 AM and voted at 8:15. Amazing turnout.
posted by petunia on November 2nd, 2004 at 12:58 pm eI was at Haisley at 6:30 AM and voted at 8:15. Amazing turnout.
posted by petunia on November 2nd, 2004 at 12:58 pm eI had a 2-hour wait at Bach Elementary… a few folks looked to try coming back later, but most of us patiently waited our turn. It looked like there were a few partisan observers/challengers there, but they weren’t really doing anything.
posted by Brandon on November 2nd, 2004 at 1:08 pm e5-minute wait at Community Center on North Main.
posted by ann arbor is overrated on November 2nd, 2004 at 1:55 pm eNo wait at Scarlett (Apparently they were swamped earlier)
posted by kate on November 2nd, 2004 at 2:00 pm e1-1/2 hour wait starting at 7:30 this morning at Abbott elementary. Wonder if they have petered out now…?
posted by KGS on November 2nd, 2004 at 3:02 pm eThree polling places in Ypsi vary from 15 minutes to 1.5 hours. Ardis precint 2 being the longest in the morning.
The red hat and / or arm bands are MoveOn.org people (usually)
posted by Leighton on November 2nd, 2004 at 3:03 pm eAt 1:15, it took me five minutes to vote at Bach. As the polling officials kept repeating, timing is everything.
posted by Eric on November 2nd, 2004 at 3:42 pm eYES!!! First person in my precinct (Ward 2, Prec. 3) to vote this morning! It was at Angell School, and it was kind of funny, since apparently that ward’s evenly split between students and NIMBYs/ Lords of the Earth. I was the only one in line for Prec. 3 for some time. This old guy (I’m not sure if he was an actual poll worker or a challenger) came up to me and asked if I was a student (assuming I would be since I lived in Prec. 3). I said, “No, sir, I’m just a slumdweller.” He laughed and said “Oh, I’m PROFILING!! That’s very wrong!” I just laughed back–what I should have done was laughed back and said “Yes, sir, and no amount of joking will make it otherwise.” He started reminiscing abuot the days when he owned a number of student properties. I was about to say “Yes, sir, I’ll bet you fucking did,” but I just listened as he made the unverifiable claim that all the dogs loved to come and shit in his yard since it was so clean (not that he used those exact words, or why dogs would prefer clean yards in which to do their business). At that point, he mercifully departed, and the polls opened. The lady behind me with the foreign accent almost got to be the first one to vote since she finished her application faster, but I turned mine in first. BOO-YAH!! I’m actually feeling really good about this evening. I think everything’s gonna be okay.
posted by Lazaro on November 2nd, 2004 at 3:46 pm eAre student voters being profiled and/or challenged? I heard a couple rumors . . .?
posted by Matt on November 2nd, 2004 at 6:34 pm eMatt, a friend of mine who voted at Bursley mentioned there were challengers peering over the shoulder of the election officials, but nothing serious as far as she could tell. Of course, if you listen to WCBN today you’ll be left believing they are purposefully understaffing polling sites to discourage voting, people are being paid to stand in line to make them longer, and other theories that seem a little far-fetched to me. But who knows.
posted by Brandon on November 2nd, 2004 at 6:44 pm e30-45 wait around 8am at the Community Center on N Main. Yeah, it was good to see the place jammed.
Anybody know what organization(s) the observers were from? One male and one female, sitting behind the table where precinct workers were checking the rolls.
posted by Sam on November 2nd, 2004 at 11:04 pm e