Try it, you'll like it...

For those of you who don’t know me very well, I am pretty interested in politics. I find the whole process to be amazing. I think it is amazing that this nation has survived as long as it has with the system that we use. I am not saying it is a bad system or suggesting an alternate system, I am just looking at all the flaws the system has and wondering how one of those has not come up to bite us in the butt over the last two-hundred thirty-one years.
For starters, we vote emotionally. WTF? John F. Kennedy was elected president because he looked good on TV. FDR was a great president, but would have had no chance if he came along thirty years later because he couldn’t walk. We vote based on religion, when religion should have nothing to do with how qualified an individual is. We vote based on our heritage. I.E: “I’m a Democrat because my Diddy was a Democrat”. We vote for many different reasons, but very few of those reasons have anything to do with whether or not a candidate is qualified for the office or if they are the most qualified for that office. That is whom we should vote for… the best candidate. Not the best looking, not the one who happens to be from that party that you consider yourself apart of, and not the one who is a fan of the same baseball team that you are.
I am not a Republican; I am not a Democrat; I am not even a conservative or a liberal. I am an issues man. I vote for candidates, not parties. I vote for issues, not candidates. It is my belief that the end of our system of government as we know it lies in our fellow citizens lack of effort and action. The best way to strangle a democracy is to not take advantage of the benefits that a democracy brings. The biggest benefit is the right to vote for who you would like to lead you over the next two, four, or six years. Voting is about being an individual. About exerting your miniscule amount of control over the government of the nation that you hopefully love. People complain all the time about the government having too much control, and then they choose not to vote. WTF? Anyone who does not get off their over-weight, lazy American butt and go to the poll on Election Day deserves whatever terrible government they get stuck with.
Getting people to vote (and to be informed voters) has been a passion of mine for quite sometime. So for the three of you that read this Blog, please get yourself registered to vote before the upcoming elections and then do the research so that you can vote for the best candidates who have the best plans to attack the issues that are important to you. If the war in Iraq is an important issue to you, then don’t vote for any candidate that does not lay out a specific plan for dealing with that issue. Simply saying, “Iraq is a huge mess and it is all _____’s fault” is not going to gain the support of intelligent people. Give me a reason to support you. Tell me what your plan is. What are your action steps? Candidates will not take a stand on controversial issues until we, the public, stand up and force them to make those stands. They believe that by not taking a stand, they are avoiding pissing off half the electorate. We need to let them know that by not taking a stand, they ARE pissing off intelligent, well-informed voters! Voting is the most patriotic thing that we can do. Get out there, take a stand, get informed, and VOTE!