Image from Dave Pollard’s how to save the world.

So today’s the postmark deadline for submitting my absentee ballot in the DPNM caucus.  I’ve been out of town on business (out of state, actually), which is why I needed the absentee ballot in the first place.   Has it arrived yet?

Do you really need an answer to that?

It should have been here about a week ago.  Ordinarily, it takes 24 hours for mail to reach this post office from Albuquerque.  But if it’s not here before the close of business today - with enough time for me to fill it out and get it in the mail with today’s postmark - I can’t vote.  And, no, traveling to Albuquerque to pick it up is not an option; aside from the shitty weather, my whole day is scheduled in a way that doesn’t leave time for a seven-hour side trip.

If it doesn’t arrive, I’m going to be seriously pissed.  Of course, I won’t be surprised.  I still remember vividly our illustrious state party’s rampant fuckupery during the ‘04 mess.  And ironically, I’ve been so fed up with our media-created frontrunners’ performance (or, rather, lack thereof), that I’ve been seriously considering withholding my vote entirely in the caucus.  But that’s my prerogative - not that of the party bureaucracy.

That said, even if it does arrive, I still may withhold my vote.  Or I may return the ballot with either 1) Bill Richardson as a write-in, or 2) a note saying that I’m voting for none of the above.  I’m way, way past my choking point.

Don’t get me wrong:  In the general election, I’ll pull the lever for Clinton, Edwards, or Obama over any Rethug any day of the week.  But I don’t have to like it.  They’re all grave disappointments, and it’s pitiful that, with the country in an utter shambles, our only choices are such a weak and soggy assortment.

At the moment, I’m leaning toward Edwards, which really pisses me off.  Wy?  because not only have I never particularly cared for Edwards, but it’s infuriating that in the first-ever election with a truly credible woman candidate and a truly credible African American candidate, I find myself feeling as though principle precludes me from voting for either (in the primary, not the general).  At what should be such a historic moment, to find myself feeling the need to cast a protest vote for the only other remaining candidate - who is a white male - is particularly galling to someone who has worked on civil rights issues her entire life.

I was going to outline the reasons why I’m so disgusted with all three candidates, but I’m finding that it’s going to take too much space.  Instead, I’m going to post an open letter to each of the candidates in turn.  I have no illusions that the posts will be seen by the campaigns, much less generate a response.  But maybe they’ll raise some questions in the minds of readers, or help them make sense of their own discomforts.  Or maybe they’ll just be cathartic for me.

That has its uses, too.