You’d just be a punk (I’m just borrowing Mona’s reader’s word ) if you actually care about issues like activist judges, abortion (today there is still not a ban on partial-birth abortion, still held up in court), marriage, but stay home on Election Day.
Bob Casey may call himself pro-life, but don’t hold your breath for a Senator Casey taking a prominent lead on these issues — you haven’t seen him suggest he would during his campaign (you have seen no indication he’s lead on anything of course, but that’s for another rant). Consider, too, that supposedly pro-life Harry Reid as minority leader has insisted on holding up a non-brainer bill that would restrict adults from taking kids across state lines for abortions without parental permisison.
Yes, earmarks suck. And I’m not defending Republican congressional performance across the board by any stretch. But not only are we at war but we have core domestic societal issues that are not going away. Don’t expect matters to get better under Democratic leadership. Don’t kid yourself about the impact of staying home or protest voting. As Mona notes, largescale Republican losses will not be interpreted as simply conservative frustration over spending (and Internet gambling?).