Things to think about as a voter

By Darrell Laurant

Published: September 28, 2008

I understand. If you’re part of perhaps 85 percent of the Americans who will vote in the November presidential election, you’ve already made up your mind.

Your guy is the only hope to save the U.S. — and, ultimately, the world — from the myriad threats and challenges it faces.

Or maybe you’re not all that crazy about your guy, but believe that electing his opponent would mean the end of Western civilization as we’ve known it.

If this is the case, you might want to stop reading now. This column is aimed at the 15 percent who remain undecided.

Personally, I think I know who I’m going to vote for, but I’m keeping my options open. And since this is a democracy, I have no choice but to accept it if the other guy wins. We’ll all survive, either way.

What would bother me is if I felt that whoever was elected got to the White House based on a lazy and easily misled electorate. I don’t happen to hold that low opinion of the voting public, but I would like to toss out some things to think about — not to be condescending, just as a reminder.

- This is not a ballgame.

In this country, we tend to put everything into a sports context. My team is always right, the other team is always wrong. If he or she is a Republican/Democrat, they’ve got my vote, regardless of what I might think about them.

Suggestion: No one else on your “team” need ever know how you vote, so vote your conscience.

- These are mainstream candidates.

Both Obama and McCain managed to get elected to the U.S. Senate, which means they had to appeal to and convince a broad range of voters. They are neither dangerous lunatics nor agents for (take your pick) George Bush or the Great Anti-American Conspiracy. Let’s not make this more dramatic than it already is.

- This is not a monarchy.

Not since the 1770s have we had a king. But to hear both candidates talk, they will read off a series of decrees on the day after their election, and it will all be done. You hear the word “I” a lot (as in “I will save Social Security”; “I will get us out of Iraq” and so on). For better or worse, Congress will have something to say about that.

- Look beyond the smokescreen.

Both candidates have repeatedly said they are in favor of “change.” Well, whichever one gets elected, it will automatically be a change — a new president.

The beauty of advocating “change” with no specifics is that whatever is bugging every person out in your audience, you’re offering to change it.

- There is no free lunch — or anything else.

If the candidate is laying out a rosy picture with broad brushstrokes of all the wonderful things he’s going to do for you, ask the question: “Sounds great, but how is this going to be paid for?”

- Don’t let TV ads push your buttons.

One example you’ll probably hear, paid for by local candidates as well as national ones, is this: “Candidate B wants to raise your taxes.”

Think about that a minute. No sane politician wants to raise taxes, because nothing is more irritating to the electorate. Nor is there automatically a pipeline from this new tax revenue to the candidate’s bank account.

So this statement is either an outright lie, or another way of saying that the candidate in question is considering an economic plan that may involve raising taxes. If the latter is true, and that bothers you, it makes perfect sense not to vote for him or her. But the word “wants” injects an emotional component into the ad that just isn’t valid.

- Don’t believe everything you hear. Or, at least, try to examine it.

I’ll give you an Obama example here, but I’m sure there are mistruths about McCain, as well.

One Internet “source” has circulated a statement that when Obama was a state Senator in Illinois, he advocated “sex education for kindergartners.”

Actually, what he advocated was that kindergartners be taught how to recognize and avoid sexual predators. That may be considered “sex education,” but not in the way you’d think. This is Clintonian semantics — not a lie, just a mutation of the truth.

- Most “guilt by association” accusations are bogus.

Would you like to be held responsible for everything said and done by your family, friends, boss, and/or minister? I think not.

- People in public office have a right to change their mind.

Personally, I’d feel a lot better about someone who shifted a position on the basis of new information came out than someone who plunged stubbornly ahead with tunnel vision.

Just some things to consider. I’ll shut up now.