Three letters: one from each major party and my Virginia absentee ballot.
I have been waiting for my absentee ballot to come, so I was excited to find it in my mailbox today. I was less excited to find letters from the local party organizations congratulating me on my request for an absentee ballot. The Democratic literature was relatively normal, so I will not spend any time talking about it. This post is long enough, anyway.

Thomas M. Davis III is the incumbent in the 11th Congressional District, so it is not surprising that he has a large advantage in fundraising over his Democratic challenger, Ken Longmyer.

To Davis, the reason Longmyer is having trouble raising money is because he leans too far to the left.

"The national Democrats are staying away," he said. "People know that this guy represents the most left wing of the party, the Cynthia McKinney wing."


The last time I saw a website compare a Democratic candidate to Cynthia McKinney, it was pretty obvious that the comparison was flawed.

But it is far more interesting what Davis' literature does not say. It (and Davis' website) take no positions on contentious issues like homosexual marriage, the proper level of separation between church and state, the current "war on terror," the policies of the Republican Party in Congress and the White House over the past four years, etc. Instead, we are treated to page after page (both paper and electronic; the brochure shares much of its content with the website) about what Tom Davis has done for the 11th District while receiving no indication that he has any understanding of the national issues that our congresspeople regularly vote upon (when they are not considering ways to add pork to bills in order to win votes in their home districts, of course).

As our Congressman he always votes for what is best for Northern Virginia and our families.

It may be because I do not have a family, or it could be my lack of loyalty to Northern Virginia, but I would prefer that Davis did not vote for "what is best for Northern Virginia," but vote with the interests of the nation as a whole in mind. Obviously, I have an interest in ensuring that the 11th Congressional District remains safe, but I would like to know that Davis has convictions of his own in order to ensure that he will not (dare I say it?) waffle in the face of the ever-fickle opinions of his consituents.

Tom Davis supports the 'Social Security Lockbox.'
For example, immediately after the brochure claims Davis is a "tax cutter," it describes his support for the infamous 'Social Security Lockbox.' I think it is interesting that Davis had time to cut taxes while in office, but was unable to aid the passage of legislation to protect social security. Where are his fiscal priorities?

Finally, is this my imagination, or does this picture show Davis shaking hands triumphantly with Zell Miller?
The end of sports as we know it.'
Speaking of Zell Miller (and by extension, ludicrousness), the Fairfax County Republican Commitee's flyer twice exhorts the absentee voter to vote Republican in order to "Fight the War On Offense" because "President Bush will continue to lead a worldwide coalition to fight terrorists abroad so we do not have to face them at home."