Dear Mr. President, you'd never take a walk with me, would you?

[Dear Mr. President-Pink]

ok so today is now election day. and so i decided i needed to make a post about all the political craziness that has been going on and my views on it.

before i get started let me clarify a few things. one, this post is not meant to endorse or condemn any candidate. second, contrary to popular belief, i am not a republican and this is not some post all about my support of McCain or Obama bashing. i vote for the person, not the party and i believe that people who vote solely based upon party are silly. do i tend to favor republican beliefs more often than i echo democratic sentiment? yes. but i am no staunch republican. this post is in reguards to all the hype and practice surrounding this election.

first of all, i will be so glad when election day is finally over, no matter who the winner is. i am so tired of the seemingly endless propoganda for one candidate or another. i hate that my tv is an endless stream of political commercials. they are tiresome. maybe i just want to watch a little tv without my corneas being constantly assualted by campaigning politicians who do nothing but sling mud at their competitors. maybe i want to walk to class without having to step over a hundred "Barack the Vote!"s or "NObama '08"s. maybe i would like to be able to walk around campus without student campaigners stalking me trying to get me to wear their stupid Obama pin or their stupid McCain sticker. i dont want to. i have my choice and you have yours. leave it alone. on a side note, i have a hunch that the "annoy the voter until they cave in and vote for your candidate" approach rarely works. so stop it. stop following me around, stop calling me, stop leaving me flyers, stop knocking on my door, stop posting it in your facebook status (Seriously guys, how many people say "Well, im voting for this candidate cuz my friend's facebook status told me to!"). let me vote in peace.

that said, kudos to all the people who will actually go out and vote in an educated manner. i am a firm believer that it is your duty as an american citizen to vote. if you dont vote, you give up any and all rights to complain about the way things are going in the country. you had a chance to try and change it, but you forfit that chance if you dont vote. but seriously people, be an educated voter. be an informed voter. know what you are voting for. of course, it is your right to vote for whomever you choose for whatver reason your choose, but ignorant voters annoy me. know your candidate's stance on issues. have a reason for why you are voting for that person for goodness' sake. For example, i have a friend (who shall remain nameless) who is voting for Barack Obama. ok, fine and dandy. when you ask said friend, however, why she is voting for him, she says "because he has good plans. and i like his stances on issues." ok, again, fine and dandy. but ask her "like what? what are some of his ideas and stances that you agree with?" and she has no answer. she doesnt really know. thats just ignorant. and another one i hear alot, "Im voting for Obama because Bush is a terrible president (by the way, i have an entire set of views on the whole Bush situation as well. while i do not believe Bush has been the greatest of all presidents, i do believe he takes more flak than he actually deserves. I may very well blog about this in a subsequent post.)" hmmm.. last time a checked Bush wasnt running again. how can you judge one candidate based upon the shortcomings of an entirely different person? you cant really. could i say, for example, "im never going to another male doctor again because i went to a male doctor and he gave me the wrong diagnosis. i mean, he is a male, and a doctor, therefore all male doctors must share the inability to be a good doctor."??? no, i couldnt say that. that would just be silliness. so how could i say, "Bush, a Republican, is a terrible president so im not going to vote for McCain because he is also a Republican and would therefore be a bad president as well." that is terribly ignorant. if you examine McCain's policies and decide that his policies match those of Bush, then you have a valid reason for not voting for him. but using the above statement as your justification if just plain ignorant.

ok i think im about done now. as i pack it up for the night, id like to say this: good luck to both candidates. good luck to whomever wins. the winner has a hard road ahead of him fixing this mess. i do not envy him and all the work and criticism he will have to face in the future. so goodnight all, and happy election day.