A very interesting piece from Religion News Service on Republican efforts to get the Amish to the polls, largely based on appeals to conservative stances on abortion and gay marriage: The Amish, as well as their spiritual cousins the Hutterites and Old Order Mennonites, have long resisted political involvement as a way to “not be…

This coming Sunday is Reformation Day – the anniversary of Martin Luther’s posting of his 95 theses to the cathedral door in Wittenberg. This event is generally held to mark the start of the Reformation. (So, kill two birds with one stone by sending your kids trick-or-treating dressed as Luther and Calvin.) I’m not sure…

Eve Tushnet has a very good post on her election ambivalence. Best line: “So, some scattered thoughts, in an attempt to at least gesture toward the reasons why, if I were registered to vote, I would vote for (growl) Bush–the man who puts the ‘W’ in ‘WTF?!’”

After taking that presidential selector quiz yesterday, I was a bit puzzled. It seemed strange that I, who have long considered myself a conservative of some stripe or another (with a brief sojourn among the libertarians), would find the Green Party candidate at the top of my list (with admittedly a large area of disagreement)!…

Eric Weiner: So, might mandatory voting work in the United States? It’s a tempting quick fix to our low levels of voter turnout. Also, imagine our political parties freed from the burden of having to energize their base. Candidates could focus on converting voters, rather than trying to get them to the polls. As for…

James Kushiner and S. M. Hutchens at Mere Comments lay the smackdown on those Christians who deride single-issue voting and can’t bring themselves to support President Bush. (permanent links don’t seem to be working; the entry titles are “My Big Fat ‘Single-Issue’ Vote” and “The Smart Evangelical”) Unfortunately, neither one seriously addresses the issue of…

Does not exist! Not even close, according to this quiz designed to help you select your presidential candidate. Here are my results: 1. Your ideal theoretical candidate. (100%) 2. Cobb, David – Green Party (59%) 3. Nader, Ralph – Independent (59%) 4. Badnarik, Michael – Libertarian (52%) 5. Brown, Walt – Socialist Party (43%) 6.…

Just for the record, and current polls notwithstanding, I predict that President Bush will be re-elected on Tuesday (or whenever all the recounts and legal wrangling are finished – from which may God save us!). I think the Democrats in general and the far Left in particular have overplayed their hand with respect to the…

Martin Peretz has some questions for John Kerry: How would John Kerry have dealt with Saddam? He has told us Saddam needed to be “confronted.” But the word itself–which implies that the United States could have overthrown Saddam without using military force–tells us what we need to know. Had the United States and our allies…

Deciding not to vote is not the same as not bothering to. It’s a conscious choice, made for a reason. And the reason is this: A vote is an endorsement. When you punch the circle next to a candidate’s name, you’re backing that candidate’s program. It’s like signing a petition, or writing a letter of…