Make Sure to Vote !!!

[Thomas_Not_very_wise]

Tradition holds us back as a Country, I feel. Sometimes you must give up some of your values to progress as a nation as a whole.

Obama 08.

[Sandstorm]

Wern brings up some good points. However, one major contradiction that strikes me is this: As I understand it, Wern wishes to restore religion and morality to the masses, and to government. However, the government, as the Founding Fathers originally thought of it, was completely seperate religion and government. They did not want religion to permiate the constitution, or be the force behind any of the governmental institutions. The Constitution mentions religion no times, except to ban it as a litmus test for governmental positions. The US Supreme Court has even said..
"The fundamental law of our nation — the basis of our liberties — is the Constitution, not the Bible. Indeed, it is the Constitution that elected officials are sworn to uphold. "
 
Thomas Jefferson in 1802 issued this statement about the first amendment.
"The course of constitutional neutrality … is to insure that no religion be sponsored or favored …"
 
The Founding Fathers clearly had no intention of having religion be a part of any decisions made by the government. Tolerance of religion is another topic. However, it seems to be best described by this topic in the modern day.
 

[Howlando]

On Tuesday, I will be voting for Barack Obama for President. I feel strongly that he is, by far, the better choice for a stronger, more prosperous, safer, freer nation and world. I would be happy to explain why at length if anyone is undecided and actually interested in my opinion, but as I'm not very interested in writing at such great length I will instead link to my personal favorite endorsement, the New Yorker's. And for those of you who consider yourselves to be conservative, and have not already been swayed by the arguments made by conservative realists such as Colin Powell on behalf of Senator Obama, here are A ndrew Sullivan's Top 10 Reasons a Conservative Should Vote for Obama.

But I do for a moment want to address some arguments advanced against Senator Obama in this thread.

First, there's the matter of taxation. Returning to Clinton-era levels of taxation are hardly "socialist." I absolutely am a proponent of being prosperous and people being rewarded generously for hard work and success. I know some very deserving, very wealthy people who have certainly benefited considerably from Bush's tax cuts. But I think most of these people understand that it's wiser to pay a little more in taxes and have an economy be healthy and competently managed, and have an opportunity to produce more wealth because your customers are doing well rather than - have a couple of years of paying less in taxes, and having the private airplane/yacht industries do very well, but the country find itself in massive debt to other countries and then the stock market crash and the value of one's investments be cut in half. If you're rich, I think a US under Obama would be much better for YOU than it would be for McCain. It is easier to get very rich in a country that is prosperous, investing in the right kinds of things, not wasting money, and where most people are doing relatively well so they are buying your product.

Second, there's the question of morality. Putting aside that Senator Obama opposes gay marriage (he does approve of some kind of civil union, though - for the record I personally disagree with this, I am all for marriage being recognized between homosexual couples and not just civil unions), I think it's very clear if you look at the record that Obama holds himself to a higher ethical, religious, and moral standard than McCain does. Examine their histories. Study how they both have conducted their campaigns. I'm not particularly Christian myself, but Senator Obama's religion is clearly a more important part of himself than McCain's.

For me, Senator Obama is not the perfect candidate. And regardless, the trials and difficulties facing this country may be beyond any man to manage. I certainly anticipate problems to come, and am prepared to be fully critical of an Obama administration, and to hold them accountable to the mistakes he will surely make. But this has been a long, difficult, and pretty nasty campaign - and even for those of you who find yourselves voting for McCain, I hope you will be prepared to realize that if Senator Obama is victorious, he will be fighting for you just as much as any of us, and deserves respect and should not be feared. There's a lot of strong emotions flying around right now, and although I'm not particularly optimistic about swaying people's decision on who they're going to vote for at this time, I just hope even McCain supports will find themselves being receptive to Senator Obama as their president should he be elected.

[Meldread]

I just want to point out something for those that don't know, because I know there are a fair amount of college students here on this forum.

If you got a letter from your local county registrar's office informing you that you were ineligible to vote because you listed a dormitory as your address, then you should know that this is completely bogus.  The supreme court ruled in 1971 that students may register to vote where they attend school.

Republican's are trying to suppress the votes of students (who are going to vote overwhelmingly in favor of Obama) here in Virginia.  Here in Virginia the state board of elections explicitly states that a dormitory may constitute a valid address.  If you got this piece of paper here in Virginia then you should know that it violates your constitutional rights as a voter.

Don't get screwed over by voter suppression efforts.  

Also, on Tuesday expect the lines to be pretty long.  Make sure you've had something to eat before you go vote - it will likely take over an hour.  The longest wait I've heard about was down in Atlanta which was 10 hours (for early voting!).  If you can vote early in your state I suggest going Monday, in hopes of avoiding even longer crowds on Tuesday.  Don't think you can do this between classes or while on lunch break, you may have to take off of work (or show up late) or skip class.

Some areas, in particular low income and minority areas, there are fewer voting machines put there in hopes of creating these long lines, getting people discouraged and therefore preventing them from voting.  Don't be discouraged, don't let your vote not be counted, stand in line as long as you have to - no matter what it takes.

Just remember that in 2000 Al Gore lost the election by just over 500 votes, and that in 2004 Kerry would have won with just over 10,000 votes had everyone who stood in line in Ohio stayed in line.

Also, you can't wear buttons, T-Shirts, carry signs or any type of campaign paraphernalia when going to vote.

[Garem]

Please be informed. Regard voting records, disregard them, whatever you believe is best. So long as you're looking at something substantial (and the less potential bias involved, the better). Be wary of spin, media, polls, etc. Then, please vote for a candidate you think is best.

If you want to support a party (or perhaps work against one), do so in the congressional races where party distinction bears particular importance. These men write the laws, these men decide the changes.

[JackOfSwords]

VOTE!  VOTE!  VOTE!

And please make sure that you tune out the crackpots out there, regardless of whether they come from the left or from the right.

If anyone is trying to convince you to vote one way or the other by smearing a candidate or claiming a candidate would ruin your life, odds are they're revealing more about what's wrong with THEIR candidate.  Most often, what a person criticizes in others is what they fear about themselves or are prone to doing themselves - it's why they are fixated on it.

Listen to the candidates.  Read about their accomplishments.  Watch who they pick to work with them, and watch how they run their campaign - that will tell you more about their abilities and leadership than just about anything else.

Ultimately, you will also be compelled to match your candidate with your own moral compass.  But please keep in mind that you need to respect the moral compass of others.  Morals and ethics are extremely subjective, and the beauty of our democracy is that we can come to an agreement of how to live together while still preserving our individual beliefs.  

While I respect Wern quoting John Adams, and respect Wern's beliefs, I could not disagree more about the place of religious morals in our government.  Dogma and government are an extremely dangerous mix, and have been arguably the source of the greatest travesties mankind has ever wreaked upon itself.  The Holocaust and 9/11 are two such examples.

I also do not see America in a decline, having lived here for 44 years.  There are always cycles of growth/decline, but the overall trend for 44 years has been constant improvement.  Often, however, we fail to notice how far we've come because some people are determined to do nothing but complain and criticize (usually in order to advance their own self-serving agenda.)

As for Garem's statement that you should vote for a candidate and not a party, I would agree for the most part but would qualify it further:  Vote for an administration and campaign, not a party.  The individual candidate is nothing without the people behind him or her.

Most importantly, VOTE!  VOTE!  VOTE!

[JackOfSwords]

THANKS, AND AWESOME JOB, TO EVERYONE WHO VOTED!!

No matter who you voted for, be proud that you did your part to actively contribute to a better future!  Let's continue to work together toward that better day!!!

[9lives]

Your inspiring use of capital letters has touched me in a special place, Jacqueline of Swords.

[Pup]

It absolutely cracks me up that everyone thinks that the President of the United States has the power to raise or lower your taxes.

He doesn't.

Anyways, the king is dead.  Long live the king.

[Garem]

It's about the sway of power. Barack Obama is the figurehead of an administration and a whole political party/agenda that wants to raise taxes to fund their programs. Plus, he (and all presidential candidates) talk about taxes, raising, lowering, etc. in their campaigns. This isn't just fluff. It's just not an explicit power of the executive. If President-to-be Obama wants to change taxes, he can walk over to Capital Hill, tell Congress what he wants, and chances are that it's going to put the wheels in motion (although Pelosi and the gang will be waaaaaay ahead of him, making it rather silly for the President to be walking around D.C. to tell someone to do what they're dying to do anyways!).

[JackOfSwords]

As well, don't forget the power of veto when it comes to budget issues.  While the President doesn't have direct power to raise or lower taxes, s/he can still keep vetoing bills until s/he gets one s/he likes.  And ultimately, Congress would like to continue to get their paychecks.

[p00d33m]

A bit late but ... thanks Americans ... we as you say "the rest of the world" thought you were going to do nothing about the election again as you did in Bush's 2nd mandate, I mean fraud election... thank you.

It means that although your college election system is quite strange to some of us ... you still fight for Democracy, in real fights like voting.

The winning of Obama brings back in everyone chest that tiny little flame of hope that human kind still carries around in their...
I know it is just a small step also to disappointment but what can we do if not to believe and hope ... some called it faith once ...

So as I said OBAMA DID PREVAIL ! =)