Why I Voted

And so the long awaited day has finally arrived on our doorsteps.  The campaigns are over.  All that is left is for the balloons to be blown, the champagne to be stocked, and over one hundred million Americans to vote.  Take that number in.  Over one hundred Million Americans and that isn't even a very good voter turnout, but still, one hundred million people.  Each one with theories and thoughts and dreams and visions for what they believe this country should stand for.  Some will vote for less than desirable reasons.  Because of a racist or bigoted belief or an unsubstantiated understanding of a religion.  Some will vote because one candidate is much better groomed, can hold a conversation, or has a cleaner smile.  Some will vote on the broken foundations of lies, half truths, and equivocal remarks.  Some will vote incorrectly because they failed to understand which chad they were punching out.  And then there are some, a hopeful majority, that will vote with a pen and ballot.  They will walk into a booth and with a few quick marks they will allow their educated opinions to flow from their minds into their hands and onto the ballot.  Their minds will become their voices.  Their ballots will become their words.  For all reasons, good and bad, one hundred million Americans.  It's difficult not to be poetic.  

Today marks the end of the dirtiest presidential campaign (financially) of all time.  Lies became the common soapbox for both of the candidates, with a few stranglers trying to find boxes to stand on.  This was a campaign cycle that will produce the first collective sigh when the polls close, not when the winner is announced.  We were inundated with millions of ads, with constant media coverage, and the majority of it was negative.  Even the third party candidates, some whom so excellently threw their hats into the ring, couldn't help but join in the onslaught of anti-opponent rhetoric.  But this election was more than two animals duking it out in the ring.  It was, at its core, a battle for the future of this country.  The election should have boiled down to a set of ideals against another set of ideals, but as always, it devolved much more into a character based pissing match.  But then again so are all presidential elections.

But today does not just mark the end of the presidential race, but the ends of thousands of races nationwide.  With state candidates, state measures, and state judges lives, careers, and the future of our homes hang in the balance.  Here are a few:

In Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, and Washington citizens will go to the polls to decide the future of same sex marriage.  In California, the death penalty returns to the ballot.  In Arkansas, Colorado, Massachusetts, Montana, Oregon, and Washington marijuana is being voted on either medically or for statewide legalization.  And in Alabama, Florida, Montana, and Wyoming Obamacare makes its way into the state arenas.  

In Missouri, current Republican Congressman Todd Akin runs for Senate.  Earlier in the campaign he said on the topic of Abortion, "If it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try and shut that whole thing down."

In Indiana, Republican Senate candidate Richard Mourdock, when asked whether abortion should be allowed in case of rape of incest replied with, "I think even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that's something God intended to happen."

In Arizona, Republican Congressional candidate Gabriela Saucedo Mercer had this to say about immigration.  "If you know Middler Easterners, a lot of them, they look Mexican or they look, you know, like a lot of people in South America, dark skin, dark hair, brown eyes.  And they mix. They mix in.  And those people, their only goal in life is to, to cause harm to the United States.  So why do we want them here, either legally or illegally?"  

A lot is at stake today.

But why did I vote?  And what did I vote for?  Many of you will be able to see my earlier blog post about logic and morality, about my decision to vote for either Obama or Stein.  Well in the end I made up my mind.  And although guessing who I ended up voting for isn't very hard, I will still remain silent as to the actual candidates that I voted for.  I will support who I wish to in public, but my vote is still private to me.  Well, at least somewhat private. 

I voted for healthcare.  I voted for gay marriage.  I voted for economic recovery.  I voted for peace.  I voted for education.  Those are the issues.  But I voted for the graduate student who works to support his ability to work in a profession that won't pay him the money that he is paying for the education to go into that profession.  He slaves all day and night, can't afford tuition, but takes out loans, and still manages to come to class with a smile.  He smiles even through the pain that is gushing through his veins everyday.  I voted so that he can continue to smile.  I voted for the two men, waiting outside City Hall with a line miles long.  They wait, with no hope in sight, but a promise to each other.  They wish to each smile and say two words a piece and then in a moment of ultimate ecstasy touch lips to seal their vows.  I voted for them.  I voted for the mother of three who works to feed her children and on lucky days, even herself.  She cleans up after wealthy men and women who drop crumbs on her doorsteps without any thought of the action.  I voted for her.  I voted for the marine in a foreign land who put down his gun and exchanges it for a pen and paper so that he can report the news only to be captured by the news he was covering.  I voted for him.  I voted for a fourth grade girl whose books crackle and tear with every page turned, but she uses what little change she has to buy tape, so that she can learn as much from the book and then pass it on to the next generation.  I voted for her.  

I voted for a judge who looked at a case and represented the law with respect and courtesy. 
I voted for a retired teacher who practiced her lessons every day.

I voted for a husband, a father, a friend, and a courier of righteous government.

I voted for a representative of moral fiber and rich kindness.

And I voted for a man who from time to time shows that he is human even when his public require him to be larger than the frame that he fills.  Someone that I disagree wholeheartedly with some of his decisions, but I understand his predicament.  And finally, someone whose soul represents what is good within all citizens of this country.  

I voted.

I hope that you do to.

"Always Believe."