I keep coming back to this, but I think it’s because I continue to be more and more excited/relieved/comforted to know that I am not the only one who keeps ranting about this!  I’ve been in the middle of a shitstorm of one-sided politics lately.  One side of my family votes exclusively with their party line, calling the other immoral, shady, etc., and finally I chimed in and expressed dire frustration at one party’s absolute disdain for the other.  I know what issues have been the driving ones for me, and that’s the way I vote.  There are new issues this time around, that to me weren’t as relevant in the last election (healthcare, mortgages, retirement, etc.) that I will readily admit, I am so very uneducated on the history and options we have to choose from.  So I am determined to educate myself to make the best, most informed decision I can.

It makes me so very very happy to see other young folks with the same heart.  We KNOW that this election is a big deal, that the country we live in needs to change course, that the things we vote on now will be impacting us in a very real way for the next 4-8 years and then for the rest of our lives.  So much is at stake and more relevant than it ever has been for any of us.

I stumbled across this blog in my daily blog-hopping and exploring. She is at least the third person (myself included) who has blogged in the last week about politics and has started with the preface/disclaimer that the writer is a) either somewhat moderate, but certainly open-minded, b) didn’t really want to get into political discourse, but current events and circumstances require our attention and reaction, and c) expressed frustration at the segregation by party lines and the promise to vote on issues, not ticket. Here you go:

“This is such a sticky subject, but I am going there. I consider myself a pretty moderate person when it comes to politics. There are a few issues I am very passionate about. Just to mention a few: foreign affairs, the environment, the war, our veterans, family issues and healthcare. I was so impressed with the ability everyone had over at Alexa’s to nicely discuss their need or lack of party affiliation. It seems overwhelmingly that most of you are not connecting to a party but to the issues, which in my mind is very wise. I also was so relieved to see that most of us seem to really understand and are passionate enough to be educated about the issues that are deciding the course of the future of our country. No longer are we just voting a certain ticket because someone told us to or because our great great grandfather did, we are choosing based on our conscious and what will impact our future. Bravo!

It got me to wondering. If we are breaking the mold of generations and not necessarily choosing our candidate based on their party affiliation, what are the issues that will ultimately decide your choice for the next president? What do you do if you are like me and you find yourself supporting different platforms of both candidates? How do you weigh the importance of one issue versus another?”

Again, you can find that (and other musings by the same blogger) here.