“Do the right thing” wins a Spotty

Lynnell Mickelsen wins a Spotty for an op-ed in today's Star Tribune. It begins this way:

In every voter's life, there comes a time when you just have to buck up and do the right thing. Whether you like it or not. Because the stakes are so high.

She's talking about the Hatch-Pawlenty race, and her comments are directed at Hutchinson supporters. Lynnell says to them:

Word to Peter Hutchinson supporters: Now is one of those times. The governor's race is deadlocked between Mike Hatch and Tim Pawlenty and your guy is still stuck at about seven percent in the polls. Which means it's over. He fought the good fight. You did your best. But the patient still died. So now what?

"I'm voting for Hutchinson anyways," says a good friend who leans left, "because I just can't vote for Mike Hatch -- I don't like him. And I agree with Peter Hutchinson on all the issues." Of course, she concedes, if she had to choose between Pawlenty or Hatch as governor for the next four years, she'd take Hatch in a heartbeat.

Hello? Reality check? It's no longer if we have to choose between Hatch and Pawlenty. We really do have to choose between these two. But I keep bumping into other decent, liberal pals who tell me they're still voting for Hutchinson, proving yet again that denial ain't just a river in Egypt. Kubler-Ross calls it the first reaction to death. So this is what I tell my friends still leaning toward Hutchinson:

Look, Hatch wasn't my first choice, either. In the primary, you vote your heart. But this is for all the marbles. With Hatch and Pawlenty in a dead heat, you have to use your head, which means you don't vote for the third candidate who's polling at seven percent because he was your first choice, first love or had the best position papers.

Because despite what all the pundits, consultants and advertising geniuses have been telling us for years, voting is not like dating. When you walk into the booth, it's really not all about you and how you feel and with whom you'd rather have a beer. Voting is about something bigger, like the kind of country, state or local community you actually want to live in.

She ends this way:

So, my dear friends, on Nov. 7, buck up and get over yourselves. It's not about you this time. It's about all of us.

Spot is going to borrow Lynnell's arguments for the Senate District 41 race between Geoff Michel and Julie Risser. There are lots of DFLers, including Spot, who are sorely disappointed that Andrew Borene dropped out of the race. But as they say, if wishes were horses, beggars would ride. Voting for Borene is a wasted vote. This is a contest between Michel and Risser. Remember, it's not about you.

Lynnell Mickelsen writes at a blog called http://www.clotheslineblog.com/. Spot has to admit he isn't familiar with it, but he's going to check it out, that's for sure.

Remember, boys and girls, a Spotty is awarded to someone who pens an op-ed piece, a letter to the editor, or a blog post or comment that Spot wishes that he had written.