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It has been a long election season, and the thought that somebody might change who they’re going to vote for a day before the election is pretty ridiculous. I thought I would take a little time and appeal to everyone to think, one last time, of who you’re voting for and why.
I had someone say to me the other day that she’s voting for Sen. McCain because he shares her values. We all know the Republican party has worked hard to portray themselves as the party of values. While I know “family values” issues, such as abortion and gay marriage, are important to many people, please don’t vote based on those issues. We are electing a commander in chief, our chief diplomat, not a chief moral officer.
Please don’t vote based on who your parents or friends are voting for. This is a decision that should be made independently, without the influence of anybody. Yes, we all have people in our life we love and trust, but in these important decisions, we must evaluate both sides and think for ourselves. Who do you think has the best tax policies for you? Do you have healthcare, and if not, under which candidate do you think you have the best chance of getting some?
Please don’t vote based on anything you hear on TV. I don’t care whether it’s FOX, the mother of all conservative bias, or MSNBC, the mother of all liberal bias. Chances are if you heard it on television, it’s been massively blown out of proportion or, in some cases, isn’t true at all. Because of the instant nature of television, stories do not have the time to be evaluated before they go on air, unlike how newspaper stories are evaluated. Because of this, many false stories make it onto the airwaves.
Please don’t vote based on character issues. Barack Obama is black; John McCain is old. Sarah Palin is sexy; Joe Biden isn’t. This might possibly be the worst way to vote, and I can only assume if you vote based on any of those issues you have the brain capacity of a four-year-old.
Think, one last time, about why you’re voting. Do you want lower taxes? Renewable energy? Clean water and air? Healthcare, retirement plans for your parents or maybe a retirement plan for yourself? Take one last look at the issues most important to you and make sure you know why you’re voting.
Most importantly, please vote. We all have the chance to steer our country in the direction of our choice. It is a chance most people in the world do not have and will never get. It is a chance our fathers and our father’s fathers fought for, and died for. It’s a chance our peers are dying for right now. It’s a chance that only comes around once every four years, so make it count.
William P. Davis is a first-year journalism and violin performance student.
