Voting today by mail

I am voting today by absentee ballot. Minnesota allows absentee voting without requiring any excuse such as being out of state or in the hospital.

I should have submitted the ballot two weeks ago when I first got the form. The reason: to put this whole election behind me.

For a brief period I was actually concerned that Trump could win. Now, that looks impossible. I also look back at the short Bernie Sanders insurgency. Social media made him seem like an actual movement, when he was not. This was exacerbated by journalists who equate Twitter with the nation as a whole. The Vermont senator who did not talk to any of his colleagues, did not caucus with anyone, and promised free everything could have lost the election for Democrats to Trump.

Still, I wonder at times what the difference would be. I learned recently that 80 percent of the federal budget is already earmarked before the national Congress even convenes each year. It is tied up in untouchable legacy programs such as Medicare and Social Security and national debt interest payments.

In addition, I wonder at the significance of little symbols of party affiliation when everyone’s behavior seems to be the same. For example, what is the difference between two car commuters, one of whom has a Republican bumper sticker and one of whom has a Democrat bumper sticker? When it comes to environmental outcomes especially, the difference vanishes.

This is a problem for me. In 2012 I voted for Jill Stein when I knew Minnesota would go for Obama. But I recently found out about her equivocating on vaccines and radiofrequency exposure. I wish we had a Green party in the US that was strong on environmental issues but did not pander to the anti-science crowd.

I firmly believe in being politically active. I think people can have an impact. For example, I’ve seen the way neighborhood groups and preservationists in Minneapolis and Saint Paul have obstructed density and transit improvements. But perhaps I should look at politics as only one tool. Other hopeful tools might include technological change, cultural shifts and my own personal affiliations.