Monday, November 5, 2012

Vote!


I am an Officer in the US Army and I only am allowed to publicly have one political opinion of my own and it is one that I believe in from the bottom of my heart.  I am allowed to encourage anyone and everyone to vote and participate in our great democracy.  So thus, I believe that at some point tomorrow, you should vote and I encourage you to vote!  Vote!

I do believe that you have the right not to vote but I believe that you are wrong to do so and here are the reasons why.  Political pundits love to talk about the new game vs the old game of politics.  The old game was where the candidates would first get the support of their party and then try to win over the moderates or swing voters.  The new game is where candidates will attempt to rile up their supporters and political party enough to get more voter turnout in their favor.  This new game has caused BOTH political parties to move to extremism and even less agreement than ever seen before.  This is getting worse and worse as less people participate and vote.  If you do not vote you aren't just ignoring the issues, you are contributing to the problem.  You are the problem!

The more people that vote, and understand the issues, the less that our elected officials can get away with anything!  Also, the more news coverage that they will get among the major news networks.

Why your vote counts:

Go ahead and ask those few hundred people in Florida during the 2004 election if their vote counted.  Regardless of what you think of the electoral college, without it the NorthEast would have lost a lot of voting power this week due to Sandy.  It is also our system that we have to work with.  Think you live in a swing state and your vote doesn't count?  [Look at 1988 or 1992.](http://imgur.com/a/MlFxF)  The states that were swing states weren't what most think are swing states.  Also, how do you think you are ever going to change your state if you don't vote?  If you still aren't convinced, at least you can show how ineffective the electoral college is over time by scewing the statistics by voting!  We can vote twice every election in this country.  You missed the run off(Primary) where we get to vote among many candidates.  You haven't missed the final vote where we get to choose between the two best candidates. It isn't too late!

Don't like one party or the other because they are SOOO out of touch with the American people?  Vote! Think the other guy is the spawn of Satan and the definition of evil?  Vote!  Think one candidate is in the pockets of the corporations? Vote!  Think one has their head so up in the clouds that they cannot see what is actually going on?  Vote!  Think one is a flip flopper?  Vote!  Think one is too rigid and cannot make a decision based on different situations?  Vote!  Tired of the last four years?  Vote!  Don't want another war?  Vote!  Think a preemptive strike is completely needed right now?  Vote!  Cut spending?  Vote!  Raise taxes on the rich?  Vote!  Is one a religious fanatic?  Vote! Is one godless and immoral?

Think the two party system sucks and think we need a new faction?  You never are going to change it unless you vote!  Politicians listen to people who actually vote!

I love our great Democracy(Representative Republic) and I love people that vote.

It is your civic duty.

Vote! Vote! Vote! Vote! Vote! Vote! Vote! Vote! Vote! Vote! Vote!