Get information now, vote later

By: Emily Toohill

Posted: 9/3/04

I picked up an issue of USA Today on Thursday and read an article about how I am more likely to support John Kerry for president because I am a single woman.

According to this article, I would be more likely to support George W. Bush if I were married. It also states that there is a similar trend among men. The article claims that the "marriage gap" exists because of changing society status rather than changing political views.

Evidently, Americans are voting based on their own security and financial situations instead of the situation of the country as a whole. It's no surprise that people are putting their own needs ahead of their country's; it is easier to help yourself than to wait for help from a government that hardly knows you exist. Therefore, we can expect voters to choose the candidate they believe will best benefit them.

On the front page of the same issue of USA Today was a poll of the reasons eligible voters did not participate in a previous election. I am aware of the flack non-voters get, but I can understand their reasons for not voting.

It is often hard to see how those in office will affect our lives.

At times, it feels like we're choosing the lesser of two evils rather than the most qualified candidate.

So much emphasis is placed on exercising the right to vote that one would think all future successes and failures depend on those in office.

I can recall an incident earlier this year in which a political speaker on television asked audience members if they were better off today than they were four years ago. My answer: yes.

I now have a driver's license, a high school diploma, 45 semester hours completed and a Fortune-500 company on my résumé.

I highly doubt that I primarily have our political leaders to thank for these accomplishments - I'd sooner thank my family, friends, instructors and employers. We may not have the most preferable people deciding what is or is not legal, but this does not prevent us from helping ourselves.

The first time I voted, I faced a ballot full of candidates whom I knew nothing about, and issues and offices that I was unaware would even be on there.

In an attempt to be better prepared for this year's election, I spoke with Mary Kubasak, a member of the Macomb League of Women Voters. After swapping Web sites of generally neutral voting information, we concluded that the McDonough County/Macomb ballot would contain at least the following items: United States president, senator from Illinois and McDonough County State's Attorney. For more election information, Kubasak and I recommend these Web sites:

www.newvotersproject.org

www.youth04.org

www.politics1.com/il.htm