This election, I did something I haven't done since 1988. I voted a straight Democratic ticket. Mechanically speaking, it was a tad more difficult than it was in 1988 (and in 1984 when I did the exact opposite by voting a straight Republican ticket). Back in them days they had that one lever you could pull to register your selection of the "straight ticket voting" option. In the election seasons after that one and preceding the current one, my votes have went to candidates of nearly all the different parties - Democrats, Libertarians, Republicans, Independents, the Green Party, the Reform Party. I have problems with both of the major parties, and it seems that I'm in disagreement with just about all of their stances on the issues.

However, conditions and events over the past several years made my election choices this year a "no brainer". The avarice, corruption, and hypocrisy in the Republican party is overwhelming and its evil threatens to turn back the clock and return civilization back to barbarian times. Yes, it sounds like an outlandish statement, but if you put together all the little pieces of the puzzle, a hideous picture emerges from the jumble of neoconservative political themes.

Not that most of the Democratic candidates are the epitome of statesmanship either -- it is indeed a case of the "lesser of two evils" ... I figure most have already made up their mind on how they'll vote tomorrow, but here are some questions that I asked before casting my ballot ...

Which party has its agenda dictated to it by hardline right wing think tanks, that spend millions on altering public opinion to advance the causes of crony capitalism and comic strip conservatives?

Which party argued for reforms to clean up accounting and securities regulation and which party pleaded to keep the foxes in charge of the henhouse? The president may talk a good game, and the mainline media may downplay his Harken Energy role, where he performed the same shenanigans that Enron chiefs played, yet he still has been dishonest about his part.

Which party wishes to siphon money from senior citizens and the disabled into the grubby hands of investment brokers?

Which party is urging the privatization of the public school system, removing needed monies from public schools so a small segment of elite citizens can educate their children at private schools? And being totally disingenous in their motives, damning public school students to an inferior education. Yes, we've seen how well that model works in the health care industry, each year bringing diminished benefits and increased costs. Let's see if we can cripple our educational system even more than what we've done to health care ...

Which party had its leaders castigate the last duly elected president, who sinned and has tried to make amends (at least publicly) and work toward doing his family right, while these same party leaders discard their wives like used pickup trucks for newer models?

Which party has been caught and punished for their dastardly, successful actions in bringing back Jim Crow, yet still continues to engage in such reprehensible campaign tactics?

Which party's policies result in more homelessness, poverty, less economic opportunity and increase the gap between rich and poor? In the past 22 years, only during the last 4 years of the Clinton administration was there a turnaround in the fortunes of the lower 60% of workers.

Which party is beholden to bankers, insurance company executives, oil company directors, agribusiness conglomerates, doing all of their bidding, while eschewing the democratic concerns of workers, teachers, students?

Yep, it was real easy filling out the ballot ...