I vote for…

There are those in the world who want to know about my personal voting beliefs.  What I will support, and what I will vote for.

And today, I felt it was appropriate to share those voting beliefs with you.

This is my voting endorsement, and this is how I plan to vote.

• I vote for pineapple as an acceptable pizza topping.
• I vote for Die Hard as an acceptable Christmas movie.
• I vote for Same Auld Lang Syne by Dan Fogelberg as an essential Christmas carol.
• I vote for Jamario Moon of the Albany Patroons as the most valuable Patroon of the past 15 years.
• I vote for James Conner of the Pittsburgh Steelers – a running back who defeated cancer during his college years – as the most inspirational Steeler in the lineup today.
• I vote for the words of Emma Lazarus’ poem, The New Colossus, to be as familiar with school children as the Pledge of Allegiance.
• I vote for Mary Ann over Ginger, with 99 a third party candidate.
• I vote for Chevrolet.
• I vote for Nikon.
• I vote for Spam as an essential luncheon meat.
• I vote for Boston in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  I also vote for Styx, New Order, Depeche Mode, the Guess Who, Bachman-Turner Overdrive and Grand Funk Railroad to be in the Hall as well.
• I vote for baseball to take the Tampa Bay Rays and move them to Montreal.
• I vote for same-sex marriage, as well as for same-sex divorces.
• I vote for stricter punishments for hate crimes.
• I vote that a tomato is a vegetable.
• I vote that mustard should be spicy.
• I vote that fried fish sandwiches should be long and crispy, not square and chewy.
• I vote that packages of baseball cards are acceptable Halloween gifts for trick or treaters.  They’re gluten free and allergy free, don’tcha know.
• I vote for BlackBerry as the best personal cell phone.  Then and now.
• I vote for Cherry Garcia as the best Ben & Jerry’s ice cream flavor.
• I vote for Blotto as the best Albany-based rock band ever.
• I vote for John Sterling as the most annoying, grating, cloying sports announcer of all time.  And that’s considering that Joe Buck and Suzyn Waldman are also on the ballot.
• I vote for steaks.
• I vote for yard sales that are advertised by handwritten cardboard signs on telephone poles.
• I vote for Gus’s in Watervliet for the best local dogs and cheeseburgers.
• I vote for Ted’s Fish Fry for the best fish fry sandwiches.
• I vote for car washes that are performed by Boy Scouts, high school cheer teams, or other charitable fundraising organizations.
• I vote for diet cola.
• I vote for power tools.
• I vote for no-kill animal shelters and adopting your pets from same.
• I vote for the Adirondacks.
• I vote for the Great Escape, and I still vote for calling it Storytown now and again.

And as soon as I finish today’s blog, and take care of my morning chores … I’ll head over to the local polling place and participate in another vote.

You may agree with my voting choices, you may disagree as well.

But we live in a country where there the right to vote is guaranteed to all citizens of age.  Don’t let anybody take that right away from you.  Exercise it every chance you get, and be an informed voter – know all the candidates, from the top of the ticket to the bottom.  Know their platforms and their policies.  Know what they stand for.  Know how they will vote.

As you see above, you know how I will vote.

So now let’s see how you will vote.

Vote today.