Vote early!

I knew that my moratorium on political ramblings would never last. I hope that you can forgive me, but these next few days are far too important to ignore. This is my third presidential election. First and foremost, I feel kinda old. I remember the sense of pride and excitement I had when I voted way back in 2000. I had just turned 18 two months before and finally I had the opportunity to vote. No more listening to my parents bitching and moaning about the state of our country. I actually had a say in how things were going to be. Talk about a cool feeling.

Unfortunately, it didn’t last. I almost didn’t vote in 2004 because I, at the incredibly old age of 22, had become disillusioned and jaded with politics and the whole election process. Bush had shown a decided lack of foresight, intelligence, skill, and integrity over the last four years. John Kerry was just plain boring and uninspiring. Why vote when either candidate sucked so much? At least that’s what I thought. Only at the last minute did I realize that not voting, that not exercising my duty as a citizen, would only make things worse. Theoretically that is.

With only four days to go until the 2008 presidential election, I’ve started to wonder if just blindly voting, for whatever reason, is really all that worse than not voting at all. I think this falls back to my previously stated belief that people suck and are idiots. How many people this year are going to vote strictly across party lines? Certainly it will probably be a majority. How many people are going to vote for John McCain simply because he has a big R next to his name (and vice versa for Obama)? I figure it must be a lot, or why else would the election be tightening these last few days? Why else would John McCain even have a chance at winning? Why else would people support a party that is nothing more than a parody of itself, led this country into a debilitating and unnecessary war, destroyed our economy, and pushed many of our civil liberties to the breaking point? I can only assume it’s because they’re Republican and not because they actually believe that all these things are good things. Who knows, maybe I’m giving humanity too much credit (I’d rather believe they were mindless sheep than just morons).

Thomas Paine said that “It is error only, and not truth, that shrinks from inquiry.” I urge you, before you step into that voting booth, to inquire, to search, and to learn about what you’re voting for. Go online and read the candidates’ platforms. Vote based on knowledge and not ideology. I may not agree with how you vote, but if you vote informed, at least I can respect that. It’s your duty as a citizen to vote with your brain, not with your emotions.