my vote still matters, right?

While I was home, I received my California driver’s license renewal notice. Fortunately for me, the notice comes with an automatic voter registration. Holding on to my student status, I have been voting absentee for every California election since I moved here. Why? Mostly because I felt my vote wouldn’t mean anything in DC. Since moving to Arlington, I’ve considered a number of things that I would’ve never thought of before—namely, a VA driver’s license and registering as a VA voter.

I’m thinking that I’m probably going to be staying here for awhile, especially if things with Jesse and me continue to work out as they have been (yes, after 4 years I’m finally coming to terms with not living in California at the moment). So perhaps I should make it official and let go of my student status and actually become a VA resident. Ugh. (The words “VA resident” looked a little scary on the screen just then). Unfortunately for me, this is not an easy decision, mostly because the color of a state really matters to me. Cali is blue. Virginia is red. I prefer blue. I vote blue. Will my vote really matter in VA where red rules?

So my dilemma comes down to this—should I help out Virginia dems and register (even though I'm not sure how long I'll be here) or should I continue to support the dems in Cali? The VA senate race is getting hot right now, what with George “Macaca” Allen losing his comfortable lead over Jim Webb. Sure, Jim Webb barely has a chance against the red Allen machine, but they’re currently running neck and neck in the polls. I absolutely despise Allen, the former Bruin who didn’t invite any Mexican Americans to his Ethnic Rally this weekend. If I had been in town, I would’ve crashed the party just to annoy him enough to call me a “wetback” or “beaner.”

And then there’s Cali. Not even my vote from way across the country could’ve stopped the Governator from taking office a few years ago. And even though he promised a long time ago that he wouldn’t need a second term to fix California, he clearly eff-ed it up so bad that he has to run again. Clearly, his opponent Phil Angelides needs my vote.

In my home district (Cali, 47th), Loretta Sanchez (clearly better than the racist she replaced, Bob Dornan) is facing a challenge from Tan D. Nguyen, a Vietnamese immigrant who is opposed to illegal immigration (I don’t think anyone is actually for illegal immigration rather than basic rights for illegal immigrants but that’s what he says on his website). He’s also a UCLA drop out (I mean, “transfer”). There is a strong Vietnamese contingency in my district so I’m a little nervous about this one.

Since I believe my vote still matters in this world, what’s a Cali transplant in Virginia supposed to do?