I voted.

I early-voted yesterday, at the last minute, with a whole bunch of other people. As usual, it was depressing, which is pretty much the last thing I need right now.

My usual rule is to only vote if there's someone or something on the ballot I can vote affirmatively for, rather than just to vote against people, and I did have one this year, my State Representative who I've been happy with.

I ended up voting straight DFL on the partisan races (we don't have regular Democrats here) and incumbents in the non-partisan races except for one uncontested race where I really did write in "Lizard People" due to lack of better options. I miss the days when the Republicans offered some level of reasonable choice and we had a third party worth thinking about. There was only one race at all that offered a real choice, State Auditor.

Which is not to say the DFL candidates were stellar, especially statewide. Tim Walz was the third-best Democrat running for governor and ended up on the ballot anyway. Keith Ellison would have been a great choice for head of the DNC, but I think he'll be terrible as Attorney General whether or not it's a steppingstone to Governor. Amy Klobuchar is terrible on internet issues and I've never been happy to have her as my Senator. But I voted for them anyway.

(And if you're a Minnesotan who hasn't voted yet, I would urge you also to vote for Ellison. Doug Wardlow used to be my State Rep, and he's that bad, really.)

Like I said, depressing. I don't know, maybe I should be happy that there's no Bolsonaro on my ballot, that the most reprehensible character is my incumbent US Rep, Jason Lewis, who is merely petty, stupid, avoidant, and mean. But I have a hard time getting to that.

I don't much like democracy in the form we practice it at the moment. We're promised a voice but then there's never anyone worth using it for.

There were goats, cropping the natural prairie section of the grounds at the Fire Safety Center where the early voting was held. I guess I'll take solace in the goats.

_{This is a different goat though.}