#939 – Dick Bernard: Election Day, Nov. 4, is one month (five weeks) from today

There is a great deal to be said about Election 2014, now only five weeks away.
The succinct message:
The vast majority of Americans over 18 years of age are qualified to vote. Regardless of roadblocks thrown up to keep some away from the polls, few Americans are excluded from the right to vote.
Unfortunately, if past is prelude, a minority of American will even bother to vote November 4 for the entire litany of reasons we all know, personal excuses and otherwise….
Many of those who actually cast a ballot will have little notion about the implication of their vote for the candidates they end up voting for. (Those who don’t vote at all are a separate category…in effect, they give up their right to complain about the ultimate results.)
In large part, we are disconnected, politically, and it shows in our almost complete disdain for the institutions we elect, especially the U.S. Congress.
Personal advice.
Wherever you live, by now you should be able to find out, on-line, at your Secretary of State’s office, all of the information about next months election, including candidates.
Minnesotans, here’s the link.
At minimum, find out who the candidates are for every office up for election on your local ballot. This will include, at minimum, your Congressperson, and likely many other local and state candidates.
Find out what you can about these candidates (worst source of information in my opinion: media ads, which are aired for or against candidates). At minimum, you likely have friends who are interested in politics, who can give reasonable advice.
In the end, it is the people who show up at the polls on November 4 who will decide the direction (or lack of direction) of this country and your state for the next two years.
It will be either the Republican or the Democrat “side” which will make policy (or make no policy at all, if gridlock continues).
If we resent our government, we really are resenting ourselves, since we chose these folks.
Be well informed, help others be well informed, and vote Tuesday November 4.
NOTE: Eric Black, a columnist and long-time well known and highly respected journalist on the business of Politics, wrote about Americans and voting (and lack of same) in the September 29, 2014, MinnPost. His column is well worth the time to read.