Here in NJ, we gave the privilege and duty today to select between two men of means with equivalently encumbered pasts and remarkable similar (for the most part) platform cards. I prefer one to the other - slightly - and will be be voting for him, though there are a couple interesting alternatives on the surprisingly vast undercard.
The whole process this year (at least in New Jersey) reminds me more than a little of the worldview of Nancy Kress' Beggars' series. In that universe, most of society has become impoverished, and they choose from candidates based on promises to spend their own vast wealth on the people. Further complicating that society is commonplace genetic modification technology, making designer babies common, at least among the rich-enough. I don't want to give away the critical tech hooks or the plots (true SF fans never commit such abominations), but if you've never read the books, you should. They're good speculative fiction and, as most of her writings, they touch issues of interest and importance in 2005 society.
Kress also writes a fiction-writing column for Writer's Digest (which she shares now with other writers), and has won awards for her short and long fiction. Check her out.
And remember: Vote early and often! And vote smart!
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