VOTE!

And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country.

John F. Kennedy, Inaugural address, January 20, 1961

The election is upon us… finally! I’ll be rather glad to have it over and done with, as I for one an eternally sick and tired of all the claims and counterclaims, charges and countercharges of what seems to have been the messiest election campaign that I can remember. Strangely enough the mudslinging all seems to have come at the federal level, which is pretty sad considering that we’re supposed to be a civilized people. And neither party has room to be indignant about it either. The campaigns here in Idaho seems to have been kept pretty clean throughout, which speaks well of our candidates for state and local offices. About all that’s left for us to do is cast our ballots and wait for the count to tell us who won… with a few recounts here and there… and probably plenty of screaming and crying about “stolen elections” at the national level. I suspect both major parties are lining up their legal specialists in hanging chads, and searching for user friendly people who can determine the voters intent from faint marks on a piece of paper.

The Republicans are frothing at the mouth about ACORN registered voters and busily searching for irregularities and possible voter fraud. (I understand that ACORN was caught registering a single voter 72 separate times in one city, and that quite a few long deceased citizens are expected to be voting in Las Vegas this year!) ACORN, the “Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now”, is a self proclaimed non-partisan organization, although it generally follows the Democratics on policy matters. This alignment, and some liberal causes have made ACORN the subject of considerable partisan conflict. Organizations like this, and the disinformation spread by tightly controlled media outlets have been giving the Republicans heartburn for months. I’ll bet there are more than a few Republican programs along with a lot of conservative writers that are giving the DNC sleepless nights as well.

All in all, this will be a real interesting election, if the American people even bother to vote. I spoke with Rose Gehring the other day, and she commented that she hopes all registered Idaho County voters would show up and cast their ballots. As having a large turn-out makes a lot of work for the elections officials, I asked why she wanted to see such a large turnout. Rose said that there are 10,050 registered voters in Idaho County, and that she has a ballot waiting for every single one of them. Grinning, she explained that preparing for an election is somewhat like preparing a banquet, and when only half the expected guests’ show up the cooks have the discouraging job of throwing the extra food away. I can see where that would get frustrating.

Voting is the peaceful mechanism established by our constitution whereby we select our leaders, by the ballot and not by the bullet as happens in so many other countries, nor by the police intimidation we recently watched occur in Rhodesia. The American system of handing over the reins of power every four years is almost unique in today’s world, and we’ve been doing just that for well over two hundred years.

So why do so many qualified Americans choose not to vote? Well, a lot of infrequent voters and those unregistered said they do not vote or do not register to vote because they are too busy. The idea that politics are controlled by special interests is held by about two-thirds of non-voters, and they think that voting is “immaterial”. A feeling that the candidates don’t really speak to them was another reason why many people don’t vote. Still, 93 percent of infrequent voters agreed that voting is a very important part of being a good citizen and 81 percent of nonvoters agreed it is an important way to voice their opinions on issues that affect their families and communities.

The chance of a single vote in a system such as our Electoral College has an very low possibility of influencing the outcome. But we should also keep in mind our last two presidential elections, where the outcome was decided by only a relative handful of votes. At the same time, while my vote might be only a “drop in the bucket” on the national level, it’s a lot bigger “drop” in selecting Idaho’s Senators and Representatives to Washington, along with all the folks we send to Boise representing us. Voting is quite important at the local level as well. Remember those 10,050 voters in this county? Those are the only people who can select our county office holders, and the decisions those people make generally have a more immediate effect our daily lives than do people at the federal level. Consider that the nine or so million dollar budget in this county is your tax money after all. If you don’t like the office holder, the State of the Union, or the condition the county’s in, don’t blame anyone other than yourself if you didn’t voice your opinion with your vote. So on November 4th, simply get off the couch and go cast your vote!

A good friend of mine, Mr. J. D. Ray of Portland Ore. recently got into a bit of a “discussion” on the internet about voting. J.D. and I don’t always agree on matters political, but I’d say he’s hit upon several very good points in his rebuttal. He kindly gave me permission to quote a part of what he wrote:

I vote because I believe financial responsibility should be enforced on our government the same way it is on us.

I vote because I believe that all life is sacred, and that killing someone in their home on the other side of the world is the same as killing an unborn child.

I vote because I believe that in America, the right to free speech should be upheld, because it's in our constitution, and the right to not be offended shouldn't, because it's not.

I vote because I believe in states' rights, and that when my state votes something into law, the federal government shouldn't create a law specifically designed to make it illegal.

I vote because I believe that the government shouldn't be concerned with the definition of the word "marriage," but should concern themselves with what makes a binding contract between two domestic partners. "Marriage" should be left to churches and other social organizations.

I vote because I believe that the market should be free to rise and fall without being pushed one way or the other by the government.

I vote because I believe taxes should be fair for everyone.

I vote because I believe government is too big.

I vote because I believe illegal aliens should be sent home, not put to work in factories because they work cheap for off-the-books wages, nor allowed to sit around sucking up our country's benefits, killing our citizens in gang warfare, or taking jobs when Americans are unemployed.

I vote because I believe America wants to believe in itself again, and is ready and willing to work to make that happen.

I vote because I'm proud to be American, and if you don't like it here, get the hell out.

Couldn’t have said it better myself.