Don't blame me, I voted for the other guy

I'm a pretty popular person these days.  That's the impression you would get if you looked in my mailbox everyday.  Political candidates for every office, from Governor and Senator, to City Director and Justice of the Peace, are mailing me, asking for my vote.  While I am registered without a party affiliation, the national committee of the party I chose to vote with during the primary sent me a mailer reminding me to vote, and listing early voting locations.  They would probably give me a ride to the polling location if I asked nicely. 

Now I'm not particularly political, at least no more than the next person.  I vote, but I am not a serial voter.  It appears these mid-term elections (November 2, 2010) will have a large voter turnout.  Early voting and absentee voting have been high in my area.  Maybe there will be more than one other voter inside when I go to my polling location next Tuesday.  Selfishly, I hope not.

I don't want to post something that espouses views on issues, parties, or candidates.  I will, however, state a political opinion, on voting.

I am less concerned about voters with differing opinions, based upon experience, information, and strongly held convictions.  I am more concerned with the ignorance of our voting demographic.

In spite of all information available to us, America has an entitled, lazy and uninformed voting population.  Ironically, many of the most knowledgeable about politics are our children, who learn about candidates and issues in school, but do not vote.  So, in a way that is very real, political advertising works.  Whoever has the funds and skill to put out the most and best advertising persuade uninformed and lazy voters.  Outside interests spend millions of dollars to influence elections.  It is discouraging, and downright scary, to listen to people talk about politics without much of an idea of what they are saying.  They take their ignorance to the voting booth. 

All the mailers, and all the television commercials, mean very little to me.  I do not believe that one of the candidates for senate "can't wait to raise taxes..." as a mailer says.   Nor do I necessarily believe that one of the congressional candidates is a liar, just because a sweet old lady on the television tells me over and over and over.  It's all just advertising. 

It's not much different than Burger King or Subway restaurants.  Burger King is "Home of the Whopper" and claims to have the best fast food.  To me, it is absolutely disgusting.  Subway has Jared and the "Five Dollar Footlong".   I "voted" for Subway once last spring, and they gave me food poisoning.  I won't be supporting them in the future.  

So instead of looking at all the advertising, I printed off a sample copy of my ballot from the Secretary of State website, and I'm researching the candidates and the issues.  What do the candidates support?  What are their published positions and the consequences of their views?  What have they done in the past?  There are multiple ballot issues to read and research.  Those are not just ignorant impulse decisions.  

We have so much information available to us in order to to make informed decisions.  There is the internet and access to prior voting records, so we can see if a candidate reflects our viewpoints on the issues.  Many candidates have debated the issues, candidates have web sites and facebook pages.  There are often local campaign headquarters that you can visit for more information. 

My views and tendencies haven't changed much since I was a teenager and first registered to vote.  Like anybody, some issues matter more than others.  When faced with a choice between two or more candidates, none may fit with all my views, so it is a matter of the issues I regard as being more important.  One of the greatest legacies that a President will leave is the lifetime appointments to the Supreme Court.  I will vote for a President whose vision for Supreme Court Justices matches how I want the law to be interpreted and upheld.

Also, what do I think of the person running for office? 

There is a candidate running for a lower office in my state.  I view him as being clearly superior to his opponent.  The debate was a mismatch.  However, I am concerned about some his connections, policies and see him as a serious threat to be a senator or governor in the future.  I don't want that.  He may be the more experienced and well polished candidate, however I do not want to vote him into a position that I think is a stepping stone to higher office.  I've seen many politicians like him before.  Someday he may be able to do real damage.  He's probably going to win now; but don't blame me, I'm voting for the other guy.  

Voting is a right and a personal choice, both in who and what you vote for; even if you decide to vote at all.  Being an uninformed voter is certainly a choice.  But be careful, you may just get what you want.  If you are willing to take that route, perhaps you will allow me to convince you to just stay home and watch this video...