Mia Taylor

For the past eight years President Bush and his administration has been nothing short of disappointing to me in many ways and that is why I am writing this post. I’m not writing to sway your vote one way or the other, I’m writing because I believe people do not understand the importance of voting. Even more importantly is understanding why you are choosing to vote for Candidate-X, or if you’re even going to vote.

The Seatlle Times, in an article written late October, stated “more than 100 million Americans will vote for president on Tuesday, and not one of them expects his or her vote to decide the outcome.”

Whether you’re the type of person to cast your vote in utter secrecy, so as not to be branded, or the type to flaunt it on your facebook status, knowing that your vote does count in agregate is the first step.

Regardless of who you vote for, it is crucial to think of each candidate as candidates of neither the Republican nor Democratic party. Ultimately, although the President passes/vetoes Bills, our lives are determined more by the Supreme Court.

“Supreme Court of the United States is the highest judicial body in the United States, and leads the federal judiciary. It consists of the Chief Justice of the United States and eight Associate Justices, who are nominated by the President and confirmed with the “advice and consent” of the Senate.” (According to Wikipedia.com)

There is always a chance that with the election of a new president, and a change in Party, that a supreme court justice could retire his/her tenure. Only the President has the power to nominate a new Justice, and Supreme Court Justices (SCJ) hold office for life, so…If there’s a new SCJ and new President… maybe we can welcome new changes.

In order for this democracy to function at it’s highest potential, we need to participate in how it is run. Vote.

It was sung by immigrants as they struck out from distant shores and pioneers who pushed westward against an unforgiving wilderness.

Yes we can.

It was the call of workers who organized; women who reached for the ballots; a President who chose the moon as our new frontier; and a King who took us to the mountaintop and pointed the way to the Promised Land.

Yes we can to justice and equality.

Yes we can to opportunity and prosperity.

Yes we can heal this nation.

Yes we can repair this world.

Yes we can.

We know the battle ahead will be long, but always remember that no matter what obstacles stand in our way, nothing can stand in the way of the power of millions of voices calling for change.

We have been told we cannot do this by a chorus of cynics they will only grow louder and more dissonant. We’ve been asked to pause for a reality check. We’ve been warned against offering the people of this nation false hope.

But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope.

Now the hopes of the little girl who goes to a crumbling school in Dillon are the same as the dreams of the boy who learns on the streets of LA; we will remember that there is something happening in America; that we are not as divided as our politics suggests; that we are one people; we are one nation; and together, we will begin the next great chapter in the American story with three words that will ring from coast to coast; from sea to shining sea”