I am voting my conscience, GUEST. Having thoroughly checked out all the candidates from all the parties, read their web sites, and listened to them being interviewed, it turns out that the best candidates by far happen to be members of the Democratic Party. They are the ones I'll be voting for this coming Tuesday.

Some of the third party candidates have some fairly progressive ideas, but they haven't a clue as to how to implement them. Either that, or if they were to actually win, their admirable but naïve idealism along with their lack of any real experience either in politics or in the business world would inevitably get them shunted off into a far corner in the rough-and-tumble of the political world. The Green Party candidate running against Maria Cantwell (D) and Mike McGavick (R) is downright pathetic. He was a 60s bomb-thrower.

McDermott (D), the incumbent Congressional Representative from my district is very progressive, very anti-war, very pro a national health care system (he's an MD, incidentally), and is steaming mad about the way veterans are being treated. He's also pro-choice, sees nothing wrong with gay marriage ("It's a non-issue they're using to pander to prejudice"). He is very outspoken. He wants voters to know what he stands for. His Republican opponent's mind is merely a collection of Bush bumper-stickers, and the Independent candidate is a very nice young lady who really needs to go back to school.

So there it is. To me, the choices are clear.

In 2008, I'll see what's on offer.

Don Firth