A New Perspective on the Election

The Danger of Participating in an Historic Anything

This is an extremely exciting election, regardless of which Candidate team you support. I have had numerous conversations with voters in my home state of Georgia that yielded this comment or something similar, “No matter who wins this election, it will be historic, either the first woman Vice President or the first multi-racial President.” No doubt, these are exciting times.

But I would make the case that if we would view the election through color blind and gender insensitive blinders, your decision comes down to the same issues that all elections hinge on: What is best for you personally?

Although not a comprehensive list by any means, you are likely concerned with at least the following points:

How will you / your family fair economically?
How would you like your country to respond to international issues of moral significance?
Will you / your family be safe from both external threats and domestic crime?
What will happen to you / your family if a health crisis strikes?
How efficient is the federal government in providing you / your family essential services and in charging you for them?

It is not my intent in this article to persuade you on any of these items. Rather, to encourage you to think of the candidate choices through a prism that excludes the historic nature of this election. Which candidate, viewed through an un-fettered point of view, provides the experience and commitment to ensure that your fundamental, daily needs?

If you are a partisan, this article is likely not for you. But if you are undecided, let me suggest that you ignore the candidates and the election just for a moment and instead, create a list of issues that are important to you. Once complete, investigate each party’s position on the issues of most concern to you with an open mind.
I am deeply committed to an informed electorate. Try this approach just once and I believe you will repeat it for every election in your future. It doesn’t take much time, not more than one surfing session on the internet. Find out what you want to support and the who to whom you should commit your vote if not your dollars will become clear. Vote informed!

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/07/presidential.debate/index.html

http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/10/07/mccain-needs-knockout-second-debate-analysts-say/