American Elections today

Today is the day for the mid-term congressional elections in the United States. It's going to be a referendum on Bush's presidency and the handling of the Iraq war. I'll be watching today and really hoping that the Democrats can gain control of the House and the Senate.

There will be a few key races that I'll be following. First of all the New York Senate. I really want to see Hillary Clinton retain her seat there (she is the Democrat standing for that Senate seat). I'll also be watching the Senate race in Utah. Orrin Hatch is the Republican who currently holds that Senate seat - but he is 72 years old! I think he is the favourite to win, but it would be great to see the much younger Democrat Pete Ashdown win. I guess it is unusual to have a LDS Democrat in Utah, but I found what he said on his website very interesting. This is what he said about being a Democrat:

"When I first became politically aware, I asked my mother why she was a Democrat, when we were living in conservative Bountiful, Utah. She pulled a book down from the shelf and handed it to me. It was the biography of the LDS Church Apostle, Hugh B. Brown. In it, he answers the same question to his nephew with the answer, "I am a Democrat because I believe they are kinder to the poor."

Sounds like a good reason to me! I'm LDS and I'm a Democrat supporter - definitely not Republican like a lot of American Mormons!

Another race I'll be watching today is for California Governor. Arnie is the current governor, and even though he is Republican, it would be good to see him get back in.

The problems with voting have occurred again. There have been problems with the electronic voting in some states today. When there are problems with voting in elections in other countries the Americans are one of the first to speak out about rigged and undemocratic voting conditions. I think the Americans need to sort out their own voting systems before they go and criticize other country's voting systems. Of course we know of the classic example with the 2000 Presidential election. Al Gore should have won that election - he did get more votes! I think the world would be quite a different place if he had won.

So go the Democrats today and stick it to that idiot Bush!!