All I Have to Say About the Election...

All I have to say about the election...VOTE! 

I am a (theoretically) licensed Government teacher, but I discovered that I do not enjoy covering a Presidential Election.  I did my student teaching during the Election of 2004 (George W. Bush defeating John Kerry).  Perhaps I am too non-confrontational for the current political landscape, which just feels like mudslinging and who can outspend the other.  I have also come to realize that living in a "battleground state" is not for the politically meek.  Oh my - the amount of money that has been spent on political ads in the Denver market has to be insane.  The candidates are everywhere - my television, radio, Pandora, even Hulu!  There is just no escaping it.

 

I will not use this forum to try to sway anyone's vote because let's be honest, I do not have that much power.  Plus it would be hypocritical since I have hidden more than a few of my Facebook friends for being "election over-posters."   What I do want to take a moment to talk about is our responsibility as Americans - to participate in the democratic process by voting!  This country was not built on complacency - if it was we would probably be drinking tea and eating crumpets with a toast "to the queen" on a regular basis.  We would also be sending our tax money to a monarchy without understanding why or how it is being used.  Remember the American Revolution battle-cry - "No taxation without representation"!   

It is especially important for women to vote both because we have had that right for less than 100 years (19th Amendment to the Constitution ratified in 1920), but also with the important women's rights issues that are at the forefront of this particular election.  Poor Susan B. Anthony and others have to be rolling over in their graves at the thought of the number of women who will not be casting their votes by Tuesday.

Now I am a registered member of a particular party, but that does not mean that I do not respect the other one.  With that being said, however, I am having a very hard time wrapping my head around the stance of the Romney-Ryan Campaign.  It makes me sick to my stomach to think that the important services that Planned Parenthood provides may no longer be available to women who need it.  I say services plural because it is not a one service organization.  It provides many valuable, potentially live-saving services to women; it does so much more than abortion related procedures.  Perhaps I have missed it, but what would take the place of PP if it were to close?  I have also been horrified by the number of people (men and women both) who are trying to tell other women what to do with their bodies should they be raped or violated.  I cannot believe that our God is one that would condone such an act let alone use it as a form of punishment.

President Obama's campaign/ideals are not above reproach either.  Do I think that he has all the answers?  Of course not.  

I just wish I knew when political parties became so polarizing.  I consider myself to be a moderate, and I do not think I am alone.  Yet those are not the candidates that are receiving the nominations, nor are those the campaigns that are being run.  I often feel as though voting for a candidate has become about picking between "the lesser of two evils".  Evil is such a strong word, but that is the expression.  It is not possible to find a candidate who represents everything that I believe in, and so I voted for the person that has a platform that I can get behind.

While I do not particularly enjoy politics, I respect the process.  I love the ideals on which this country was built on, and the people who helped create our system of government.  I respect your right to disagree with me, but I truly hope you will exercise your right and responsibility as a citizen of this country and VOTE.