la vida no es más que mientras tanto

I don't know whether this is a really excellent sign for the general election or if that much really changes between now and November that this doesn't mean anything.

Looking at the results of Super Tuesday, it seems like more people are voting for the Democratic candidates than the Republican ones - both in "swing" states and even in traditionally red states. From cnn.com:

In Alabama: Clinton and Obama's combined vote is 523,000. The Republicans' combined vote is over 550,000.*

In Arkansas: Clinton and Obama's combined vote is 270,000. The Republicans' combined vote is just over 200,000.

In Colorado: Clinton and Obama's combined vote is 118,000. The Republicans' combined vote is 56,000.

In Georgia: Clinton and Obama's combined vote is over 1,000,000. The Republicans' combined vote is just over 950,000.

In Missouri: Clinton and Obama's combined vote is 800,000. The Republicans' combined vote is just over 580,000.

In North Dakota: Clinton and Obama's combined vote is over 18,000. The Republicans' combined vote is almost 10,000.

In Oklahoma: Clinton and Obama's combined vote is almost 360,000. The Republicans' combined vote is almost 330,000.

In Tennessee: Clinton and Obama's combined vote is over 580,000. The Republicans' combined vote is almost 547,000.

I'm even playing it a little safe with the numbers - on the Democratic side, I only added Clinton and Obama's votes (ignoring all the Edwards or undecided votes) but I added ALL the votes on the Republican side, including those for Guiliani, Thompson and Paul. In almost every state above Clinton and Obama got more individual votes than the frontrunners McCain, Romney or Huckabee, AND got more or very close combined votes as well.

Is this a good sign? It seems incredible to me - was it expected? Or is the primaries voter turn-out really that different from the general election turn-out? Different enough to swing those numbers significantly in favor of the Republicans? Right now, it seems like we're doing extremely well.

*That's still much closer than I would have imagined for the state - and Clinton and Obama both got more individually than Huckabee and McCain, the #1 and #2 in that state.

Anti-choicers have got one thing right. Abortion is ultimately an issue much more about life than about choice. On this 35th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, those of us dedicated to protecting reproductive freedom need to remember this critical point: beyond the common rhetoric surrounding the right to choose, millions of women’s lives are at stake.

The March for Women’s Lives of 2004 (originally the March for Choice) was apt to call themselves such; Planned Parenthood rightly pointed out that the name change better reflected “the urgency of the issue”. Countless theoretical reasons may certainly be more than enough to justify the need for reproductive freedom, among them gender equity, “the rape exception”, the right to bodily integrity, and the dire necessity of being able to choose exactly how, when, why, and if a woman becomes a mother. But painting the issue solely in these terms overlooks what is simply the most important, critically urgent fact of the matter: when abortion is legally restricted, illegalized, and criminalized, women die.

We all know that criminalizing abortion does not reduce the rate of abortion. We all know that criminalizing abortion is entirely ineffective and counterproductive to a truly “pro-life” cause. We all know that criminalizing abortion does nothing but injure, maim, and kill women; and we all know that criminalizing abortion is inherently classist, racist, and ageist, as the women being injured, maimed, and killed are mostly young women, poor women, and women of color.

Abortion rights have been slowly slipping away for the past 35 years, and only through pro-choice legislators can we gain those rights back. It is more vital than ever before to vote for pro-choice leaders, and here are some reasons why I vote pro-choice.

Pro-choice leaders fight against oppressive and ineffective restrictions on abortion access, such as waiting periods, parental notification/consent, and mandatory “counseling,” all of which function purely to restrict women’s access under the dishonest, patronizing guise of “protecting" women from themselves.

Pro-choice leaders work to repeal the destructive Hyde Amendment, which has been around 30 years too long, and the appalling Global Gag Rule, which has had devastating impacts on far too many countries.

Pro-choice leaders fight against the terribly misinformed, so-called “Partial-Birth” Federal Abortion Ban of 2007, which does nothing but force women to forgo the safest possible way to terminate their problem pregnancies and seek more dangerous methods.

Pro-choice leaders are the only ones making valuable efforts to actually curb unplanned pregnancies through the only methods that have ever proven effective. Pro-choice leaders promote access to contraception and comprehensive sexual health education programs – the only measures which have been proven to improve children and adolescents’ sexual health and reduce the rate of unplanned pregnancy. Pro-choice leaders fight against the continued reckless federal funding of useless, dangerous abstinence-only propaganda that gambles with the health of our youth.

Pro-choice leaders work to stop the dangerous tactics used by so-called “crisis pregnancy centers,” which put women’s health and safety in jeopardy by lying to them and manipulating them.

Pro-choice leaders have worked to improve access to emergency contraception, and continue to fight to ensure that all women, including those under 18, may easily access this vital medication.

Pro-choice leaders understand that our lives, and the lives of the women we know, love, and care for – including our mothers, sisters, daughters, and lovers – are infinitely more important and in need of protection than embryos that do not think or feel; embryos that do not have hopes or dreams; embryos that do not have mothers, sisters, daughters, and lovers to care for and love.

For these and a million other reasons, I vote pro-choice. Pro-choice leaders are pro-women. Pro-choice leaders are pro-life. Pro-choice leaders work to protect women’s lives. It is of the utmost importance that we help them to do so by voting for them; by voting pro-choice, pro-life, pro-women's lives.

Just wanted to remind all my amazing pro-choice LJ friends that tomorrow is Blog for Choice Day by NARAL. This year's topic: why it's important to vote pro-choice. Be sure to sign up with NARAL if you plan to participate (just follow the above link) so that everyone can read your post!

Gotta go work on mine now...

A - AP Euro - Ryan
B - VHS - Piquette
C - French II - Armour
D - Calc II - ??
E - AP English - Krauss
F - H. Physics - Whatley
G - Yearbook - Simpson

Disorder	Rating
Paranoid:	Moderate
Schizoid:	Low
Schizotypal:	High
Antisocial:	Low
Borderline:	Moderate
Histrionic:	Low
Narcissistic:	Low
Avoidant:	High
Dependent:	Moderate
Obsessive-Compulsive:	Moderate
-- Personality Disorder Test - Take It! --

Anyone know where I can find the Sex and the City ads for Charlotte and Miranda?  The Carrie and Samantha ones are great.

Yogasm:

a) a type of yo-yo trick

b) sex with Yogi Berra

c) what Samantha has with a guy from yoga class

I don't think I have to tell you what the answer is.

Fashion Road Kill:

a) a fur coat found on the side of the road

b) a new video game for models

c) what Carrie is when she falls on the runway

Anyway, if anyone has seen a Miranda or Charlotte one in any magazine, let me know.