It was announced today that Illinois Governor Blagojevich was arrested by the FBI. Before the Republicans start getting excited about this development, let’s also note that Gov. Blagojecvich’s Republican predecessor is currently serving in Federal prison after being convicted of corruption charges.

This, ladies and gentlemen, is why the Green Party gubernatorial candidate got 10% of the vote in the 2006 election.

Of course, Illinois is simply an example. It seems that people everywhere are pretty unhappy with the two-party system. As of June 2007, the Democrats in Congress had a 36% approval rating and the Republicans had a 30% approval rating. While many often argue that Congressional approval is always low, that fact may give us reason to pause and reflect that, perhaps, the low Congressional approval is a reflection of a lack of satisfaction with the two-party system.

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[With election day getting closer by the second, Noah Baron looks at America's sham of a democratic system. Especially worth a read for whatever green-voting New Jersyites happen to read this blog...]

I decided to come home this weekend to spend some time with my family, see some friends from home, and vote. When I arrived last night, I saw my sample ballot waiting for me. I eagerly opened it up, but only to be disappointed.

This election day, I intended, with the exception of President and Congress (my congressman is pretty awesome), to vote a straight Green Party ticket. But I ran into a problem. The only Green candidate running was Cynthia McKinney, for President. For Sheriff and Board of Chosen Freeholders, the only candidates were Democrats and Republicans. In fact, for one of the Freeholder races (there are three), the Republicans didn’t even run a candidate.

I found this all profoundly disturbing, but I was not to be deterred. This morning, I began research the various candidates, starting with those for US Senate.

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