It’s November again and that means that in most parts of the country we will be setting our clocks back participating in Benjamin Franklin’s daylight savings regimen. It also means for this year that we will be exercising our American to vote for whatever candidate we choose.
There’s much interest in getting people out to vote and there’s a lot on social networking sites like Facebook encouraging people to vote. I was asked recently why I am voting. The intent of the question was for me to say something like my ancestors fought for the right for me to vote and many of African heritage died so that myself and other minorities may have the right to vote. So basically I should, and every minority should take pride because “they” are letting us vote.
I keep going back to the original question. What happen in the distant past does not motivate me to vote. What has happened in just the last decade keeps coming to mind for me along with the age old question of will my vote matter. For me, every time I go to the polls I think of why Al Gore didn’t continue to fight for his presidency. I keep thinking that with a race that close, he owed it to those who voted for him – the majority of the country – to challenge those results. He started, and then he just stopped. It’s as if he saw a butterfly flying outside his window and got interested in the environment and global warming.
Then I think of the Bush vs. Kerry election and how there were people in poorer districts that were robbed of an opportunity to vote. I also think of the punch card controversy (carried over from the previous election) and who could forget the recounts in Ohio.
If this were not enough, I think of how we taught Iraq how to vote – complete with teaching them about political parties and our brand of politics.
I even question why we still have an electoral college. I often wonder if our elections are fixed or if it was just created to look like a complicated “rubrics cube” and President Barack Obama found the right algorithm to solve it.
Maybe I’m thinking too much, but the last decade you’ll notice – if you have been paying attention – that our country is headed down a slippery slope. We have massive debt, a divided government, we have totally disrespected the power and position of the President and we’ve given every interest group the right to openly challenge authority, fight the powers that be and openly practice deception all in the name of democracy.
I fear that America is too dumb to handle its problems. Too many people don’t have a clue to what’s really happening and the media has not done anything to help. People are voting for a candidate based on everything but the candidates true ability to serve in the office they are running for. Am I the only one frightened by this?
I feel like our country is being hi-jacked by a bunch of irresponsible kids who claim to like tea. You know the ones who have made bad decisions and as a result were home living in mom and dad’s basement. Well now those same kids want to select positions in Congress.
Although there are many reasons to vote, the glaring reason for me these days is habit.
