Okay, I try to stay out of political arguements discussions, but I thought I’d explain the little “USA | J. KERRY” button on my sidebar. I’ve never considered myself a Democrat. Hell, I’ve always been more of a swing voter (and my dad must’ve contributed to the RNC, as my mother is always getting these “free” photos of Dubya in the mail… she has no idea why). This year, however, I’ve felt compelled to vote my conscience, and not tradition.
I can’t see myself ever voting for Dubya (didn’t vote for him in 2000… but then again, i didn’t vote as I was in Australia)… I just don’t trust him or his cronies. That, and I constantly find myself enraged at the things his administration is doing to the country and our civil liberties. I won’t go into all of that (you get enough of that in my random musings on this site… read “Dude, where’s my country?” and you’ll get some idea about it… or find out about the USA PATRIOT act…). After doing some reading on John Kerry’s site today, I find myself liking his ideas. Granted, there really aren’t any other choices (even Nader is kind of a throw-away vote this year… he’s not even on all state ballots), but at least I feel like I can put some trust in Kerry, and not just vote for him because I don’t like Bush. I could be a defeatist, like a lot of people I know, and say “What’s the point? Bush will win my state in a landslide,” which is very likely, seeing I live in Utah, but I don’t care. I’ll vote for the candidate I want to see in the White House. If half of the people who take a defeatist attitude in this state would get out and vote, I think the results might be a bit more realistic. Can’t just leave the voting to the wealthy big-wigs who depend on Bush’s tax breaks, now can we?
Check out John Kerry on the issues. Thanks. And remember to Register and Vote!
I just checked out your updated profile at the mission page (it seems I set it up to receive updates) and wondered why you were encouraging people to vote. I mean- I’m all for civic responsibility and quite into the political discussions and what not- but isn’t pretty much everybody else from the mission going to vote for Bush?
As much as I am a supporter of Kerry, and realise many of the former mission people will most likely vote Bush (possibly out of tradition), I still think it’s important that people get out and vote. When less than 40% vote (and that’s considered a stellar year for voter turn-out), and elections come down to, say, 500 votes in one state or another, the thought that a bunch of people didn’t vote because they were just apathetic drives me nuts.
I realise that my own state is going to crush my meager vote for Kerry (Thank you electoral college!), but I find it important to at least have my say. As much as I dislike Bush, I feel like a hypocrite saying “how did he get elected?” when I didn’t even vote in that election (didn’t request an absentee ballot in time).
I would have said “Vote Kerry” or something, but I’ve learned doing that around people from, or in some part connected to, Utah just ends up getting me in a mindless argument.