Voting, Part And now for my final thought.

Yes, you read that correctly, this is the last of the "voting" series. I've lost count of how many there are. I hope you enjoyed them. Okay, I know better. I hope you will all come back, now that I'm finished. :)

Midterms in '06 (the Democrats rejoice): Chad worked the polls. I read the rules very carefully; I was allowed to bring him lunch and supper, but then had to leave immediately. I didn't even stick around to vote, because we voted early that year.

This year: I'm not voting early. Call me crazy (there are so many who do), but I like voting on election day. Remember the six-year-old who thought voting was a magical, exciting thing? There's still a bit of her in me. My heart still skips a beat when I get my ballot and walk to the booth, like the 17-year-old that I was in '96. The long lines on election day are part of the fun. Yeah, I know I'm crazy.

I no longer think voting is magical; I know it is a lot more serious than that. I no longer think it is a matter of getting my favourite party as much power as possible; I know it is much more grey than that. In fact, I longer have a favourite party; I have learned that truth is not to be found in politics.

I know that voting is a tremendous responsibility, and I owe it to myself and my neighbours to make a well-informed decision. However, I also know that one of the downsides of living in a democracy is that sometimes the majority will not agree with me. (Which is a real bummer.)

On November 4th, we get to overthrow the government. (Yeah, that was a West Wing reference.) Please use this gift wisely, but do use it.

Thanks for listening.