Sincere Voting

“Barak Obama works with Muslim terrorist organizations, Hillary Clinton fakes her tears for sympathy, and John McCain led a prison camp to freedom with a Rambo-style escape during his Vietnam War tour.” As false as the previous sentence is, there are many people across this nation who have made their voting decisions based on such bogus legends. If a voter has not taken the time to find out what a candidate for president supports and does not support, then the smart action would be to find out some facts about the candidate or do not vote at all.

Unfortunately, there are people within every break-room, classroom or place of social gathering who will not support certain candidates because of a tall-tale their racist, sexist, or ageist friend/parent/relative who told them. Anyone who takes the word of a biased informer without seeking answers from a credible source does not deserve a voice in this election; he or she does not deserve to vote! This election has been entrenched with hype over factors that have nothing to do with being a good president and everything to do with pop culture obsessions including Obama’s race, Hillary’s gender, and McCain’s war experience.

All candidates do their fair share of building up these trivial matters in public appearances, but behind the malarkey lay large amounts of information people need to know in order to decide if Clinton, Obama, or McCain is indeed the candidate for them. It is one thing to ask the stranger at the bus stop who happens to hate Hillary Clinton because her health care plan failed the first time she tried to pass it. But it’s a completely different scenario to hear her talk about her plans for health care while she debates against other candidates over the same subject.

Watching debates on television, researching campaign sites on the internet, or reading about the candidates in commendable publications are a few ways a voter can learn about a presidential candidate. However, the number of available forms of media to learn about the candidates is not the problem. The true issue lies with the voters taking the initiative to at least view the contestants’ policies once before and after primary elections. This process takes about an hour to complete and could only benefit a voter with more knowledge.

Voting is a privilege that can benefit every citizen in the U.S as long as there is an element of sincerity that surrounds the process. The next time someone in your break-room says “I’m not voting for Obama because he will be sworn in on the Koran,” please do us all a favor and rhetorically slap him or her with the proverbial “think and educate yourself before you vote!”

David Lewis '10
Wilkes University
Communitcations Studies/English