After a contentious campaign on all sides, it is finally time for U.S. citizens to cast their votes and make their decisions on who will run the country for the next two years. But before you vote, make sure to carefully consider the 3 critical questions below.
What are you voting FOR?
No vote is just against an incumbent—whenever you vote, you are also giving someone your endorsement to act on your behalf. So what does your candidate of choice stand for and what do they plan to pursue while in office? What you think is just a vote against someone else will be interpreted by your candidate as support for their agenda if they win, so make sure you know what you are voting FOR and are confident they represent your wishes.
What does your candidate’s RECORD show?
In a representative government, you cannot judge all candidates solely on the final outcome of a presidential or legislative term. It often happens that in spite of one person’s best efforts, others block their initiatives so they aren’t able to win in the end, but that does not negate what they stood for and what they fought for. The best indicator of what your candidate will do in the future is what they have done in the past, so make sure you know how they voted on the issues you care about.
Take the time to find out what they really stand for, not just what the sound bites and ads backed by their opposition say. To view your legislator’s record, visit http://www.senate.gov/index.htm (for Senators) or http://www.house.gov/ (for Representatives) and look at what legislation they introduced, what they co-sponsored, what they ultimately voted for and against, and view their official government website. If your candidate has not held federal office before, similar information is available on their votes and views if they served as state legislators, or on their official campaign website.
Does your candidate support the issues that are in YOUR best interests?
It never ceases to amaze me how many people support issues and agendas that ultimately are not in their own best interests. If you are among the 98% of Americans who make less than $250,000 a year, for example, then supporting a candidate that wants to abolish or privatize social security, or that doesn’t support unemployment benefits or tax policies that benefit the middle class is NOT in your best interests.
While we all hope to someday be in the top 2% of earners who don’t need those benefits, it may not be realistic to believe you will ever get there, so consider carefully whether the policies and candidates you support will support your reality.
Regardless of where you fall along the political spectrum, make sure to vote so your opinion counts. In my opinion, if you don’t vote, you forfeit the right to complain about what happens, so vote for that reason, if for no other. JUST VOTE!
