Voting

I went and voted today. I decided to post a couple of my observations about the election in general. Sorry, I'm not going to promote a specific candidate or issue. I figure anybody that wants to know my feelings about that stuff will ask me specifically through an email or a phone call.

1) Thank goodness the election is over after tonight. I am a political science major i.e. I enjoyed studying this stuff for my bachelor's degree and even I AM TIRED of hearing about the election. I suppose that the general populace is ready for it to be over also.

2) A good quote I heard about voting from the article "Tuesday Morning Quarterback" by Gregg Easterbrook..."If you haven't voted yet, vote. If you don't vote, promise never to complain about any aspect of the outcome."

3) I like to read the British media. I feel it is important to hear the perspectives of people from other nations. In my political science classes, we would often discuss the United States election system. It was easy to become cynical about the way our system operates...21 month campaigns, endless advertisements, news stories about the candidates that border on the bizarre, "experts" being completely wrong and then saying that they were right all along, etc. However, the British media, specifically the BBC, wrote a editorial piece yesterday which talked about how great the American political process was. They talked about how the process put the candidates through a "refiners fire" so to speak, and that part of the reason the United States is so great is in part due to how government representatives are chosen. Reading the column helped remind me that, what I have witnessed in the last two years, does not happen anywhere else in the world.

Do I not enjoy certain aspects of electing our government officials? Of course.

Do I think some improvements are needed? Definitely.

However, I also feel that days like today are important to think about what direction our country should go AND reflect upon the system (even with all of its faults) that allows us to influence who will make decisions for our country, our states, our counties, and our communities. So, for all those who have shared their feelings about the candidates for president, the state of our country, etc. i paraphrase the feelings of the BBC,

"Thank you for letting us witness and participate in the greatest democratic process on earth...It has been our honour."