March 4, 2008 @ 7:17 am | Filed under: Uniquely Me

I really like voting days.

I don’t really care for the two years of political games and the seemingly endless war of words and actions that lead up to election season.

But I truly like voting.

One thing that concerns me most as a nation is the spirit of apathy that seems to grip a large segment of the population these days. This is true both in my own peer group and in others that I meet and see and speak with.

Two main things seem to be the driving force behind this apathy. 1.) They are disgusted with each of the candidates and don’t feel a real inclination to vote either way or 2.) They are overwhelmed with all the information that is filtered to the public through news ads, magazine articles, news shows, etc. to the point where they don’t know what the candidates really stand for, let alone what they themselves should choose to stand for.

I’m not a politically-minded person, but I do enjoy a good political conversation at times. I’m a firm believer in making it to the polls. Voting is a right, not an obligation, but – personally – I believe it should be a requirement.

I think it is simply astounding that our Constitution was conceived, constructed, and then carried out by men who were pioneers – not only of a new country – but of a new way of government. It was the first of its kind and it remains one of the few documents that has withstood the test of time and trials and changes.

To me, this speaks the loudest to the fact that this country was founded under God. How could anyone look at these facts and then lobby to remove God from the equation?

I think this great democratic system works (and it DOES work in spite of the fact that it doesn’t always lean in our favor) simply because the faith of the founding fathers paved the way for an entire country to be able to live and breathe and work and play in a land that was free to love God and serve Him.

I don’t really care where the political views of people lie. While I know what is important to me, my main wish for a country that seems to be more and more lethargic when it comes to voting, is to simply do it anyway.

For those who feel as though their vote won’t count, I liken it to taking part in church. From time to time, we need to scrub a toilet or two in our place of worship. Does this simple act really change anything significant? Does anyone really notice?

But it helps us to take part ownership of something that is very important and vital.

I have a very simple approach when it comes to learning about the candidates. I stay away from the all the campaign advertising. These are merely smoke and mirrors, full of sound bites and fluffy words with little or no meaning. I stay away from their books. I read only a handful of articles, and take even those very lightly.

No one candidate will ever be everything that I’d like him to be. No one man/woman and no one party will be able to find a cure and a fix for everything within a four year period.

So I pick the two or three issues that are most important to me, to my life and the lives of my family and friends. Then I go here. I am able to search those issues and find out within just a few minutes how these potential candidates voted in the Senate and in the House on past bills and pieces of legislature that are related to the things that are most important to me.

This probably seems like a simplistic approach to many hard-core politically-minded people. But – for me – it’s a way to cut through the chaos that clouds election year and approach the polls with a feeling of pride and excitement.

This is a great country, and voting is a great honor.

I really like voting days.