Personally, I find a close governor's race much more exciting than a presidential one. Democracy means more the more proximate it is. I also find a number of ballot measures this year compelling, either because they are threatening (48) or tempting (46-47). Additionally (I live in Medford) we have a number of hot local races, including for sheriff and for judge, and a couple of important and large bond measures.

I would never forego a neighborhood election, or a city district election, or a city election, or a county election, or probably a state election. Though I go through the motion, intellectually as well as emotionally it's very hard to perceive that one's vote in a national election matters.

I like elections that are close -- and close. :)

Civic duty, that's why I'm going to vote and it's why I always vote.

Those who don't vote ought not to complain. And since I love complaining that means that I have to vote. LOL

Seriously, though... I do it out of civic duty.

My ballot's already been mailed; the three most important issues for me this year were to vote yes on 26-84 (Portland Public Schools local option property tax) and no on 41 and 48 (I threw in a few other no votes on the rest of the statewide initiatives while I was at it...)

I always vote. Just like I always do a lot of things. A responsibility to fulfill. That's the first thing that drives me. I don't always stay as informed as I should and so to that extent I don't fulfill it very well. That's one reason I come to this site. Conscience is my guiding light for how to vote. Like Sally says- a close race adds excitement. But a vote- as big or small as it is- is just acknowledging the truth about ourselves- however great or humble a place we have. That, I think in itself, is a valuable education.

Here's why I'm voting: "Money"

I already turned in my ballot. The parental notification measure is the most important for me. Unfortunately it looks like it will probably pass no matter how I vote.

I already voted because I believe it is my civic duty and because I enjoy the fact that my vote is just as important as anyone else's vote. For one brief moment in time, I am equal in power to Phil Knight, Ted K, Gordon Smith, and any other other voter out there.

Of course, now that I have voted I am back to being just another person being ground to dust under the jackboot of corporate America.

But it was fun while it lasted!

Like many other here I vote because...

1. It is the duty of every citizen to vote, and

2. I am an opinionated person

Those are the two reasons I will always vote, but I am also find the races and measures interesting.

There's no question of whether I'll vote... I already have voted. My ballot went back into the hands of the U.S. Postal Service the same day I received it.

That in no way indicates "voter enthusiasm" on my part, as should become clear as I answer the second part of the question -- what motivated me to cast a ballot in this mid-term election.

I'm not the sort to sit out elections even when the outcome is clear, or the issues lackluster. But even if I were, the Kulongoski-Saxton race would be more than sufficient to get me off my couch and to the mailbox with my ballot. Oregon cannot afford a rubber stamp to corporate interests occupying its governors' mansion at this crucial time, and I have little confidence in "slam dunk" prognostications.

But there's more. I doubt that my state legislative district is going to elect a Democrat, and have small hope that we can break the logjams in Salem, but it sure won't be for lack of my vote.

And more. While it nearly required employment of a motion discomfort bag to vote with Bill Sizemore on anything, the Insurance-Credit initiative demands my voice, as do the potentially disastrous term limit and tax cap measures.

And, as if that weren't sufficient to motivate me... on our local ballot in Wasco County are some candidates and measures which are crucial.

So, there you have it. I ended up being a highly motivated Democratic voter after all, despite my disappointment in our Governor's campaign for reelection, and even greater discouragement that the Second Congressional District of Oregon is an exception to Howard Dean's much ballyhooed "50 State Strategy." I can't help but believe that had Carol Voisin's strong challenge on the issues to Congressman Paul Walden's incumbency not been written off by both the state and national party organizations before it even started that he could have been forced to debate her, or at least publish his positions (his website is absolutely silent on all issues), and in so doing, OR-2 might well have joined the ride on the rising Democratic tide.

But that disappointment is certainly not enough to make me despair of exercising my right to vote... and moves far enough away from the subject of the original question that I should probably save it for an after-election rant, the intensity of which will certainly be proportionate to the R-D split in the next Congress.

J-M

I vote because I share responsibility for what the State does, it is both my civic duty and ethical responsibility. When the State takes an action, it acts on my behalf (whether I like it or not) and I thus cannot avoid responsibilty. Further, the most basic of legal protections are at stake, in this election, and have come to be at risk due to voter apathy.

I must've misunderstood, I gave my generic reasons for voting. There is stuff that excites my interest this time out, and that's usually so. Ron Saxton is a trainwreck waiting to happen, 41&48 same, 42 I like-loath sponsor (unique), 43 is an oh-no, Carol Voisin is a friend - Walden is a Bushclone, ...

I've voted in every election since 1976, and was planning on voting in this one, but after finally having a chance to view Al Gore's presentation on global warming, I'm even more motivated to support those candidates who are working to avoid such a perilous future.

And as referenced this AP story, in this state there's no more important race than the governor's race.

Saxton and Kulongoski differ widely on environment

10/25/2006

By JULIA SILVERMAN / Associated Press

Should Republican Ron Saxton unseat incumbent Democratic Gov. Ted Kulongoski this November, perhaps no area of state policy would see as swift a change as the environment.

It's one of the issues where the two candidates stand furthest apart. And unlike action on education, or taxes, many of the initiatives Kulongoski has taken on the environment don't require legislative approval — leaving them open to a Saxton reversal.

From global warming, to salmon and roadless forest conservation, Kulongoski has put Oregon in a position to lead our country to a more sustainable future. Conversely, Saxton has shown that he's willing to turn back the clock in order to serve his financial backers in the logging and automobile industry.

So for the sake of the my son, the state and the planet, I'll not only vote, I'll donate to candidates, phone bank and canvass in what little time we have left. And if it's not too presumptive of me, you should too.

In 2004 I worked for Rob Brading, who's running again against Karen Minnis in District 49. I believe that government consists of "we the people," not "we the corporations" or "we the parishioners," and that candidates like Rob, who refuse to to talk about Portland as if it were New Gommorah, will help all Oregonians. I am weary of candidates like Minnis and Saxton who run against government and who see it largely as a police or highway maintainance employer rather than as a means to a better quality of life. Saxton's empty rhetoric about education is particularly offensive given the fact that his party has allowed education in Oregon to stabilize at its current level of mediocrity.

"I am weary of candidates like Minnis and Saxton who run against government and who see it largely as a police or highway maintainance employer rather than as a means to a better quality of life. Saxton's empty rhetoric about education is particularly offensive given the fact that his party has allowed education in Oregon to stabilize at its current level of mediocrity."

Saxton's rhetoric about education ~~ and government ~~ began four years back when he was largely the first voice to bring into public view the crisis of PERS. No other state or locality faces the enormous percentage (now averaging 20 of agency budgets) of public funding resources drained off from current services.

Reasons and court rulings aside, it remains the mastadon in Oregon's living rooms .... and on the roof and in the yard.

<h2>I'm a little upset by the number of people who say they vote because it is their "civic duty" to vote. I'm sure that most BLUE OREGON posters vote from an informed position. I worry about those who vote because they believe it is their "civic duty" and do so from an uninformed position. I had a civics teacher in high school who's biggest peeve was people who voted when they didn't understand an issue or know or have an informed opinion of the issues or the people on the ballot. They can really screw things up. I took that to heart. If I havn't had time to study an issue or find out about the candidates I leave a blank and leave it up to the people who have.</h2>