Crunchy Frog asked the question, why vote in this thread.
I gave my reply there, but the thread seems to have died. So, here I go on my soapbox, tooting my own horn:
In answer to the OP, a very good reason for voting is the fact that while the Presidential election may take up the main news of this election, it’s not the ONLY news.
Here in Austin, TX, we’re voting on several local issue that will carry this city into the next century. We have the issue of light rail and several other bond issues to deal with. We’re also voting on several state assembly people AND US Representatives and Senators.
All of these officials are popularly elected and have far more influence in our lives that the President. While the President gets the main news at night, it’s your city alderman or state legislator who raises or lowers the local taxes that effect you directly. You can also DIRECTLY influence these people, either thru letters or even gasp a face-to-face meeting.
And these elections CAN be influenced by just a few hundred votes or even less, of which yours is counted.
So, yes, get out and vote. It’s just not the Presidency we’re deciding here.
If the the mods decide this is inappropriate, I understand, but I think this is a GREAT DEBATE!
Very good point Crunchy…I would vote anyway. Today we are voting for a new senator, which in my way of thinking can be much more important. Granted our Virginia senatorial candidates aren’t much different than the choices we have for president. Neither one is all that honest or likable. But I’m voting party so it doesn’t really matter. We also have a couple of amendments to vote on today. One involves seening to it that lottery proceeds go to what they were originally intended for in this state, education. The other has something to do with hunting and fishing “rights”. This one is a little more vague and complicated for me. It looks as if the Virginia constitution would be amended to extend hunting and fishing on public lands as “rights” not “privledges”. I’m not sure of the real intent here if it’s just to do away with fishing and hunting license fees or if it will effect evironmental programs as well. I’m thinking that we don’t need a bunch of guys running around shooting at everything that moves whenever and where ever they choose. Nor do we need people fishing out our waters without some form of restriction when we have at risk species that need monitoring. Locally we are voting for the Commonwealth Attorney in our town.