Until My Head Stops Spinning

Posted by Amanda in US Election 2008.

I promised myself I wouldn’t make one of those trite, heartfelt posts about the election and voting.  I’m more of a light-hearted, tickle-your-funny-bone sort of girl.  But very little is funny about the situation we find ourselves in and this election is every bit as important as all the hyperbolic and hyperventilating media pundits would have us believe.

Most of you are, like me, are in your 20s and just getting to that grown-up phase.  We’re settling into jobs, or finishing up school, or trying to move out of our parents’ homes.  Some are even starting families of their own.  It’s an exciting and scary time to be coming of age and truly, we cannot afford to be ignorant of our leadership, our choices, and the consequences of inaction.

There are important challenges that we have to face.  Rebuilding our economy, weaning ourselves off of foreign oil, disentangling ourselves from Iraq without unraveling all the progress we’ve made, driving the Taliban out of Afghanistan, restoring our international reputation, and finding a solution to our health care problems are all going to be on the next President’s agenda.  Obama and McCain have starkly different views on all of these issues.  And they are the issues that will affect you and me and everyone else we know.

So ask youself this:  Ten, maybe 15 years from now, will you be proud of who you voted for today?  Will you be happy to stand up and declare, ‘I voted for Candidate X?’  Will you regret not voting at all?  It is within our power to actually change this nation.  Yes, there are hundreds of millions of voters.  And yes, most states will be decided by margins that won’t be affected by one or two individual votes.  But remember that every vote does count.  Over the next few weeks we will rehash and ruminate over hundreds of different statistical breakdowns of the results.  Will the next President have a true mandate?  If his supporters are tenacious and vote even though they know he’ll win their state, then perhaps he will.  If the election remains close, the sheer volume of opposition voters is a huge reminder to our next President that he is the leader of not just one party and one segment of the population, but of the entire nation.  It would be in his best interests to remember that.

There is a sharp contrast between the candidates and what they stand for.  We are a nation divided by small, sometimes petty, differences in opinion.  We need to become a nation united by what we have in common.  We are all Americans.  We have all earned the right to vote for our own leadership.  We all have the right to voice our concerns.  Today is not a day for apathy; it is not a day for getting lazy or giving up.  We have a choice to make that will alter the fundamental direction of this nation and this world for years to come.  Which direction will you choose?  Why?  If you can’t fully explain what you’re voting for, there is still time to look up the candidates and ballot measures.  Find out what they mean and vote with your head.  For your sake and mine, get out there today and cast your vote.

US Election 2008 |