Uninformed Voters

Sometime last week we received some John McCain and Barack Obama dog chew toys at work. This sparked a bit of political discussion and for the first time I came face to face with something I have known exists but had never experienced in someone I know: Voter ignorance. This one woman that I work with whom I would generally regard as pretty intelligent and is a double major in college put voter ignorance on display in grand fashion.

I asked her if she had a dog which one would she want her dog to be chewing on, the McCain doll or the Obama doll. She responded that it would be McCain because "I hate McCain." I asked her why that is and she said it's because "he's so old and just like Bush." She also added that she is going to vote for Obama because she is a Democrat.

Obviously Obama and his allies are making their message heard about McCain's age and the lie about him being just like Bush. I was a bit saddened by her response. For someone who is seemingly intelligent in other areas of life to make such ignorant statements shows us the state of the American public. People are making voting decisions not based on facts but on vague feelings propagated by the media.

Look if someone wants to vote for Obama then fine. If someone wants to vote for McCain then fine. But please, please America do so from a place of knowledge and not ignorance. Learn who these guys really are. Research what it is they have done with their lives and how they got where they are today. Look at their records and not just the twisted half-truths that both of them spew from the debate platform. Don't just take their word for it. Do go beyond the speeches and the press releases and the mainstream media. Read articles that support them and the ones that oppose them. Check the facts. In last Thursday's Vice Presidential Debate Joe Biden said something very interesting. He said that he never questions the motives of his fellow Senators. I'm sure Senator Biden would love for none of us to question the his or Obama's motives on a number of things but that is exactly what we must do. We must know the truth about who these people are and not just the doctored truths of multi-million dollar campaigns.

I also need to address this nonsense of voting Democrat or Republican because "that's what I am." The only people who can truly call themselves Democrats or Republicans are those that are officially a member of that party and do or have served in a public office as a member of one of those parties. The rest of America are just individuals who get to vote one way or the other. Our votes should not be based on what our parents voted. We should not simply vote for one party because that's what we've always done. There is corruption in both parties and it runs deep.

When determining how to cast your vote, ignore which party the person represents for a moment and truly think about which person in the election is going to make the right choices for America. Which one has the strength of character to take us in a direction that will allow us to prosper. Ask yourself which one best reflects the values that this country was founded upon. Ask yourself if our nation will be better off for having this person serve in office.

Half of Americans already don't vote, we cannot afford to have the ones that are voting doing so from a place of ignorance of the facts. If it means you vote for a party that you never have before then so be it. Please educate yourselves. Listen to talk radio, watch cable news stations, and utilize the internet. Then go and educate your friends.