Erik Moe: Critic at Large

I’m now a registered voter in Chicago and will almost certainly be voting for most of Boss Daley’s surprisingly green Democrats tomorrow. Jan Schakowsky here in IL-9 is one of the most progressive members of the house and this district will probably re-elect her with a very comfortable margin. I’m less enthusiastic about about Gov. Blagojevich, but in our imperfect winner-take-all system I’m hesitant to vote for the best candidate – Green Rich Whitney.

Voters in Minneapolis have the opportunity to avoid that problem – at least in future municipal elections. A charter amendment that would allow Instant Runoff Voting is on the ballot. The supporters created this animated explanation:

The move would create more competitive races between Greens and Democrats in a city where Greens have already made major inroads. Emopage endorses a Yes vote. Hopefully that isn’t what takes them over the top.

And of course, I’m a little bit disappointed that I won’t be able to vote against Rick Santorum back in Pennsylvania. I trust everyone back there will be able to do the job – even if Casey isn’t exactly a progressive candidate.