Virginia's primary is Tuesday. I'm probably gonna vote, as soon as I figure out who I want to vote for … and why.

In Virginia, you don't have to register as a member of a political party. When primary time rolls around, you can vote in either the Democratic primary or the Republican primary, but not in both.

I can see pros and cons to a number of options.

I could opt to vote in the Democratic primary and vote for Hillary Clinton. She's plainly the weaker Democratic candidate, and would be easier for the GOP Candidate (read: John McCain) to beat in November. A vote for Hillary is, in a way, a vote for an easier November battle for McCain.

But what if I vote for Hillary in the primary and then she ends up in the White House? And I have to live with it on my conscious that I played a role in that? I don't know how I'd hold up under the guilt.

I could opt to vote in the Democratic primary and vote for Barack Obama. The big advantage of Obama winning the Democratic nomination is that his victory would surely be the political death of the Clintons. It would be such a relief to finally be rid of those people. Plus, I like the idea of helping to get Obama nominated. Even though I disagree with him on damn near everything, I can't help but like and respect the guy. He deserves to be his party's nominee because he's easily their strongest candidate.

But, then again, what if I vote for him and he ends up in the White House? As far as I can tell, I only agree with Obama on two things: He's opposed to the death penalty, and he believes that Americans (specifically, Christians) have a moral obligation to welcome decent, hardworking immigrants to this country. I agree with him on both counts. But I disagree with him on pretty much every other issue, including most of the hows, whens and whys of welcoming those immigrants. I like the guy, I really do … but I just can't bring myself to support his candidacy. He's just too far to the left for me.

I'll say this, though: If it comes down to McCain and Obama in November, either way we'll end up electing a president that I admire and trust. It's just that one of them has more bad ideas than the other.

Ah, McCain. I could vote in the Republican primary and cast my vote for John McCain … but why? He's already got the GOP nomination locked up, he doesn't need any help from me. Voting for him would be sending the message that I support him and that I'm more enthusiastic about his campaign than I really am. He's only marginally more conservative than Obama. I'll vote for him in November because he's tougher on terrorism than any of the Democrats and because I respect and admire much about John McCain. He is, after all, a war hero. But I disagree with him on a number of issues, too, and I can't come up with a reason to go vote for him in the primary, considering that I think Romney was by far the better candidate.

Then again, if I vote for McCain on Tuesday, I'm actually voting for the guy that I expect to vote for in November. So I suppose it would be the honest primary option for me.

I could vote for Ron Paul or Duncan Donut or Mike Huckleberry … but I don't like any of them and I don't trust them and I don't even agree with them about many more issues than I agree with McCain about. So why waste my vote by voting for one of them?

Or I could stay home and say "screw it." Just veg on the couch and play the 360.

Hey, I think I found my option.

Labels: News, Personal, Politics