Today is Election Day, and while for most people it really is what they call an "off-year" election, it is still important to go to the voting booth today and to make your choices.
Me, I am planning to vote out just about every incumbent that there is, with a few exceptions.
That is the only way that I can voice my frustration at what politics have become, an agenda-driven job where the actual politicians put their thoughts and desires ahead of those of their constituents.
If you can't do what you promised that you would do during your term in office, why be elected again and still fumble around trying to do the things that you said you were going to do?
And this is an important election for those who turn 18 this year, because it is their first election.
That would characterize my son. Today is the first election he is going to vote in, and he knows that it signifies that he is no longer a child, that he is an adult.
It is something of a right of passage for these teens; they aren't babies anymore.
He is not a political person, doesn't know anything about the process, but he will participate for the first time today, and the great thing is that he is going to go with my mom, his grandmother, to the voting booth.
One generation guiding the other to the polls.
I go too early in the morning, before work, for him to go with me, so my mother graciously said that she would take him and that they would vote together.
I think that's really great.
I did not tell him who to vote for. I impressed upon him that it is more important to vote than who he should vote for.
He can pick and choose who he wants, and that is fine with me.
So many people drop the ball and don't vote, don't do their civic responsibility, and that is a shame.
So here, you have somebody who is entering the voting booth for the very first time, and yes, it might be a little nerve-racking, but he will get through it.
The last thing I can say is that everyone should go out and vote, even if this year's election isn't up to the magnitude of a Presidential election.
We, as citizens, are responsible for who serves as our elected officials, and even though there are times that these people that we elect in are skunks, at least we know that we were part of the process.
Vote today. Don't forget.
My older daughter turned 18 three days after Election Day in 2008 and was devastated that she couldn't vote in the Presidential election, so her first time voting was actually in a school board election the following May. She's now an employee of the school district, and realizes that such "small" elections may have as much of an impact on her life as the big ones.
ReplyDeleteVery true. The election this year is a relatively minor one, but not for those running or those voting. I often forget that. Thanks for reminding me.
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