So You Can't Bring Yourself To Vote?

Here in New Jersey, we just had an election day. On Tuesday, 8 November 2005 some of us headed to the polls to vote. As I was getting dressed that morning, I heard on the news that polls open at 0600. Since that's the time I normally leave the house anyway, and the polling station is only a couple of streets over, I decided to just take care of it on my way to work. Because of some jerk tailgating me all the way up to 80 miles an hour on the highway, I was at work at my normal time anyway.

My wife was so sick that day that she could barely get out of bed. I had to come home and take care of the kids. And yet, she still managed to drag herself out to the polls to cast her vote.

I know that a lot of people get discouraged by election turn out and candidates. Personally, I wish that we'd had a "None of the above" box on our ballot. We had a full cast of unknown 3rd party candidates including the "New Jersey Weedman", but primarily the race was between a Democrat and a Democrat running on the Republican ticket. That's great news if you're a Democrat and you're somehow afraid that the governor of New Jersey somehow has the power to outlaw abortian and stem cell research. These are such non-issues that I am amazed at the ignorance of voters.

I don't believe the the problem is the candidates. The problem in our country is the voters. Few of you take any real time to educate yourselves about the candidates, issues and current events. You vote based on emotionally charged yet essentially meaningless political buzzwords, and the parties know it and play to it. You want better candidates? Then become a better voter. Turn off "Survivor" and go looking for your news. Stop taking the fluff that the networks spoon feed you. If you become a better voter, then just maybe the parties will run better candidates.