“It’s a sure thing … ” – No, it’s not. VOTE.
by Eric Stewart on Oct.30, 2008, under Politics
My closer friends know well enough who I intend to vote for, and I’m not about to start spouting my opinion here. It’s very possible that a quicker thinking individual (no matter their politics) will be able to pick apart anything I could say about why I’m voting for who I’m voting for – yet still will not change at this point who I’m going to vote for. I’m not a good debater, and I will admit that it’s highly possible that I don’t know as much as I should ideally know about who I’m voting for.
So, this posting isn’t about that.
This posting is for everyone who
- has even the slightest urge to vote
- would complain about the outcome
- has a positive opinion about any candidate
- is tempted not to vote for their chosen candidate because of what the polls say
In short, this is about doing your part.
I spend a couple of minutes of my early mornings reading the news from my iGoogle page. Due to the season we’re in, a lot of those articles are about the Election. I look at all that “news”, and realize that while it’s supposed to be “informative”, it’s also potentially doing other things, like forming readers opinions, or influencing readers actions. I look at articles that say things like “Obama holds big lead” and think, “Someone of either opinion in this might read that and decide there’s no reason to vote.”
No matter who you intend to vote for, who you support … VOTE. If you’re a McCain supporter, you can’t give up now … and I hold the opinion that if you support the guy who loses, but don’t actually vote, you forfeit your right to complain (you can complain about process as a non-voter, but not results). If you’re an Obama supporter, you can’t assume he’s going to win … polls have been wrong enough before.
If you’re qualified to vote, it’s the one civic duty that everyone should participate in. It’s one of the few civic duties you can participate in where you are expected to go into it with an opinion:
- Jury Duty: When you participate in a jury, you’re expected to be impartial, and fair to the plaintiffs and defendants. Your decisions are to be dictated by Law, not feeling.
- Paying Taxes: While you might hate the idea (personally, I want to do my part for the country, especially if we can get some folks into office that will cut spending in order to pay off our country’s debt – but I also would like to buy computer or SCUBA gear, or go on dive trips), it’s supposed to be a “fair” system. Someone who matches you in relevant details should be paying the same amount of money for their taxes.
On the other hand, while voting should be fair to the voters, where each person’s vote is counted equally, it doesn’t have to be fair to the candidates. You don’t have to be impartial.
Make sure your voice is heard. Vote!
- Twitter: Just start your Twitter message with @BotFodder and I'll respond to it when I see it.
- Reply to the post: Register (if you haven't already) on the site, submit your question as a comment to the blog post, and I'll reply as a comment.
