It is interesting, and maybe a little disappointing, to witness the assumptions people make about who will vote for whom. Why do people assume that most African Americans will vote for Barrack Obama because he is African American? Will most women vote for Hillary Clinton because she is a woman? Did every Mormon vote for Romney, every southerner for Huckabee? Did Joe Lieberman get every Jewish vote when he ran in presidential primaries a few years ago?
People may favor candidates with whom they have something in common, but I hope there is more to a voter’s decision than race, religion, gender or geography.
I am a white, southern-born, former Catholic who now calls the mid-Atlantic region home and sometimes attends Unitarian Universalist services. Who the heck would I vote for is comfort level and affinity were the only criteria?
As Americans, we have the right to choose any candidate. Our choice is individual and private. We do have the right to vote for someone merely because we share skin color, faith, body type or home state but I believe we also have the obligation to dig a little deeper into a future leader’s potential ability to lead when making our choice of who to vote for.
And I strongly believe everyone who can register to vote should register … and vote in every election, even if the choice is based on the lesser of two evils. Every vote does count and not voting, in my opinion, can be worse than voting for a not-so-good candidate. The last election I skipped was in 2000 and it will be the last one I ever miss; because if only one vote-skipper in each precinct in the country who favored my candidate at the time had voted, we would have had a different president for the past eight years.
So please research the candidates (the internet makes it is easier than ever) and then vote in your primary and vote in the general election. Make your voice heard, even if your voice is shouting different names than mine is.
If you live in my neck of the woods, Maryland, Virginia and DC, the primary is this Tuesday, February 12th.
And if your polling place hands out those silly “I Voted” stickers, take one and proudly wear it all day!
A Little Ditty
3 weeks ago
2 comments:
AMEN! I always tell non-voters, "if you don't vote, then you have no right to complain about who's running the country!" I think in all the years I've been old enough to vote, I've only missed a few small, local elections. It's our country, so take the responsibility for making your voice heard!
oh i wouldn't miss voting this time around for all the tea in china.
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