Whomever you decide to vote for, whether it's Democrat Barack Obama or Republican Mitt Romney, you'll be voting for more than a president. You'll be casting your ballot for and against a series of policies that will touch your life and shape our nation for the next four years.
Its difficult to tell with all the mudslinging, those negative advertising spots, sound bite zingers and assorted other camp pain bull. This election is a contest of ideas and each candidate's words will have to connect to their future deeds in office.
Roll back to 2008. Obama was the presidential candidate who promised to get the country on a path to health insurance for all. If you haven't noticed one way or another, you soon will realize that he delivered.
Now lets get back to the year 2000 when George W. Bush ran on a platform of huge tax cuts. That's precisely what the country got. A decade later, taxes are lower than they otherwise would have been.
The way our political system is set up, the presidency is a position of compromise and improvisation. Many times, unforeseen events occur, or circumstances change, or things that the candidate sets out to do run into a Congressional paper shredder. This is the reason why many promises are broken, some priorities shift and good intentions get crushed.
However, we get what whom we vote for. And a lot of what we will get, we'll feel in a personal way, for better or worse, no matter how distant our nation's capitol seems from our world.
Governor Romney vows military expansion, President Obama would put more into education and these decisions are bound to benefit many livelihoods, but at the risk of even deeper national debt. If you read the fine print: Medicare won't be the same in the years ahead. Perhaps not Social Security, either. YES, wake up and make sure you vote for the candidate of your choice. There are so many countries where this right is not available to it's citizens, so please exercise your right to vote.
Finally, do not believe everything you hear. But you can believe that this country has already fought enough wars on our turf and in other countries. and it's now time we pressure our political leaders to pay more attention to our citizens and our decaying infrastructure as well as so many more issues which need our immediate attention.
VOTE-Tuesday, Nov. 6, is in many ways a true day of choice.