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In case you are stuck under a rock and have no clue, today is election day!
Watching all of the election day hype and mania made me have an epiphany, although it may be too little too late. One friend, in a rant against people who, for whatever reason, do not vote today, commented that if the state she lives in went Republican again it would be the fault of all those democrats who do no not vote.
But, if our system really worked the way it should, that wouldn’t be true. I mean, what if those 20% of registered democrats who don’t vote decided to vote, and decided to vote for a person rather than a party–doesn’t that mean that it is possible they might vote republican?
There are plenty of people who are supposed to be “on my side” who vote liberal or vote democratic or whatever that I don’t particularly like. There are plenty of people who would make me run screaming into another country if they decided to run for office, even if it was for my “party.” There are democrats in office who do not value everything I value, and there are republicans in office who do.
If our system really worked the way it should, we would vote for the people and the issues not for the party.
I am guilty of voting when I don’t know the person or the topic, so I vote for the party. We are all probably guilty of that, especially as politics and issues become more and more muddled with animosity, hate, and pure stupidity. Especially when the wording of ballot measures is made as complex and confusing as possible. Especially when candidates waste more breathe on saying negative things about the other candidates and less on the actual issues. The other day I heard one canvasser passing out pamphlets for her candidate and explaining, “this is a picture of the opposing candidates businesses in Mexico . . .” or something like that. She lost my vote.
With all the people getting out there and saying vote, no matter which side VOTE, I want to say “Vote, but please know what you are voting for!”
Is that so wrong? Vote for person. Vote for an issue. Don’t vote for a party.
Parties often end in tears.
Woman Wielding Words 