My wife and I were talking this morning about the election. We talked about a lot of things, but there are two ideas I would like to share as we move forward as a country.
First, why are we still voting the same way and time as we always have? Maybe 7am-7pm on a Tuesday worked back in the day, but things are quite a bit different in 2012. On top of taking off work, our voting location was combined with another, so we had to wait in a huge line, only to find out I was still registered at our last place, which meant then driving across town. It should not be that difficult. If we really want a better voter turnout, we need to make it more convenient to vote. I will not pretend I know the answer to this, but there are smarter people out there who probably have fantastic ideas on how this can be done — to make voting more convenient and still keep it legitimate.
Secondly, we want a candidate who is honest! We are tired of candidates claiming they can do this grandiose list of things in one term of office. One reason they cannot do it is because the President is not our country’s sole leader. We need someone who has done his or her homework and come up with a brilliant plan that involves everyone in leadership. Boil that plan down to one or two key areas of change. Then, share that plan with the public, being honest that it will take time, but eventually, this one thing will affect the next and so on. If not, they are no better than a Student Body President candidate claiming some ridiculous plan of changing the entire school in just two semesters. It won’t happen!
Ok, I’m getting off my soapbox for now. :-)
Steve Cullum 