OK, the results are in for the RaisingKaine poll, "Are You Going to Vote on June 14?" With 208 votes cast, 70.2% say they're going to vote in the Democratic primary, 25.0% in the Republican primary, 2% are planning to vote but not sure whether "D" or "R," 1.9% are not sure whether they're going to vote at all, and 0.5% (1 vote) are saying "no, not interested thank you." Now, to put this in perspective, the poll's been up for several weeks, during which time RaisingKaine has received many thousands of visits, so 208 votes is not a lot. Sadly, this is not surprising, given that turnout in primary election is normally extremely low -- just 161,000 Virginians cast their ballots in the 2001 Democratic gubernatorial primary out of about 4 million state-wide registered voters. In other words, a tiny percentage of voters will likely decide the nominees for Republican and Democratic offices this year.
This is sad. Americans say they are alienated from their government, but then don't bother to participate in improving the situation. In a democracy, it all starts with voting. In America, it's not hard, it's not dangerous, and it's not mandatory. It's just a patriotic duty, in my humble opinion -- what the brave men and women of Bunker Hill, D-Day, and Iwo Jima fought for...
Anyway, with that, I urge everyone to vote on June 14! If you can't make it on June 14, then vote absentee. According to the Virginia Board of Elections absentee voting "ends at 5:00 p.m. on the Saturday before the election." That would be NEXT Saturday, June 11. Thanks.
PS Don't know who to vote for? This page might help you.