“REGister to vote CHANGE of address… REGister to vote CHANGE of address…”
These words (cried loudly but listlessly by a middle-aged black woman at the end of Locust Walk) have haunted me the past few weeks. Like me, you’ve probably been bombarded with advertising of all media crying out for you to register to vote: posters, signs, flyers, even facebook groups and photos.
A focus on registering citizens to vote is much more widespread than just the Penn campus. That’s a good thing, because we should all vote, right?
Wrong.
Unless you have an understanding of the issues, and of the candidate for which you would vote, you really have no business anywhere near the voting booths on November fourth.
I firmly believe in the principle of quality over quantity, and I would rather have the voting left to a hundred people who actually care about and understand the election than let it be up to billions of assholes who are voting for McCain because Obama’s a Muslim or for Obama because McCain calls his wife the c-word.
If you don’t have a real, personal, justified answer to the question, “Why are you voting the way you are?”… WHY ARE YOU VOTING?
I am willing to bet that the number of people on the Penn campus who are registered to vote far exceeds the number of people who watched the recent presidential and vice-presidential debates. I’m also pretty sure that a lot of the diehard Democrats and Republicans out there know practically nothing about what their party stands for. They just know that they hate the other.
Please, voters. Don’t vote for “change” if you don’t know what change is. Don’t vote for “reform, prosperity, and peace,” vote for a person who agrees with you on the issues, and who you think will get the job done.
All you newly-registered first-time voters, you have two choices. Either use the next three weeks wisely, and learn about the candidates and their stances on various issues, or keep your grubby little ignorant hands off of the ballots.
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October 9th, 2008 at 3:18 pm
hi chaia,
obama isn’t a muslim. mccain did call his wife a c**t. Whether or not you think the fact that mccain might be a misogynist and clearly has a despicable temper is relevant, there’s still a difference between coters believing a lie and believing the truth.
October 9th, 2008 at 3:19 pm
*voters, not coters
October 17th, 2008 at 12:01 pm
[...] Indeed this is an important election, but if you don’t know your candidate by now, perhaps voting isn’t right for you. [...]
October 21st, 2008 at 12:21 pm
Hey there Chaia,
I kind of get what you are saying, but you side-step an important question confronting your argument- Who are you to say what a ‘real, personal, justified’ reason is? Who is anyone?
The utilitarians of the 19th century essentially went for the ‘voting left to one hundred people who care’ approach. The problem is who very quckly get an elite and the rest are left disenfranchised- absolute ppwer corrupts, and they eventually vote for their own interests. People have a right to voice whatever is important to them, and I agree that it’s damn infuriating, but unfortunately there is no better system.
October 21st, 2008 at 4:13 pm
Aaaah the clone-like masses or the rich power-hungry elite? Sometimes it seems like a solution-less problem. Anyways, I was just trying to make the point that people should try to learn a little bit about the candidates, and maybe even…care about the issues?! I know, it seems far-fetched. Thanks for the comment
October 29th, 2008 at 11:13 pm
To Eric–
Do you really think that the words “real, personal, and justified”
are completely subjective in terms of voting and politics?
Somebody who votes for Barack Obama because he was funny
on Ellen DeGeneres or for Sarah Palin because she’s “hot”
is clearly not invested in the state and future of our country.
Yes, they are entitled to the right to vote, but, sadly and unfortunately,
they do more damage to the system than they do good.
Like Chaia said, they (and we) would be better off if they stayed home on election day.
Voting and politics–especially national politics, and especially at a time like this–
should be taken seriously. Everyone’s vote may count the same, but the opinions
of the informed, engaged, and thoughtful are far more worthy to our society
than those of people who have opposite qualities.
A U.S. citizen that is willing to take on the responsibility of voting
should be ready to take on the responsibility of making informed decisions.
October 30th, 2008 at 9:52 am
[...] is a Muslim,” said on Locust Walk.) And while I’m not happy that I heard it here on The Spin, this nasty little “Don’t vote if unless you ‘get it’” [...]