Mikes Place

By Michael L. Craner

Election day is finally upon us, maybe even behind us by the time you read this.  Who will/did you vote for?  More importantly, why?

For me my choice wasn’t that difficult to make.  Once I re-centered myself and remembered what is important.

First, forget all the campaign promises and attacks between candidates.  History shows that in most cases campaign promises are broken.  The ad wars are always assaults which turn candidates words against them, and taken out of context, therefore for the most part every commercial you have seen or heard, or any little blurb on the evening news should be disregarded as fluff meant to confuse and guide your choice away from you.

So how is a person supposed to make the “right choice”?

"Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it." --George Santayana

Do the research and find what your candidate has done in the past.  Does it sound like their promises today are a natural continuance of that history?  Or are they perhaps just telling you today what you want to hear to get your vote?  People never make dramatic changes in their beliefs and values, and if they change their position several times on the same topic they are either just pandering or not really serious or knowledgeable about the topic in the first place.

Vote for the candidate that most reflects who you are, the candidate you most admire and strive to be like.  You are voting for the person to be your voice, an extension of you.

A vote for “Anybody but …” is a betrayal of yourself and your country.  It is a vote cast in ignorance and disregard, just as failing to vote at all would be.  If the best representation of you is not on the ticket then you should be getting more involved to find out why, find your voice, and get behind him/her in any capacity that you can.  The election process is all about voting FOR someone.  Not against someone.

That being said, I made my decision to vote to keep President Bush for four more years.  I have found many things that I admire in the man, and I find he values many of things I do.  I have seen his compassion and caring for my neighbors who lost all they had when a tornado ravaged the town of Pierce City, less than ten miles from my own home.  I have heard similar tales of his compassion and humanity towards family members of those lost in 9/11, and even a few cases of “everyday tragedy” that affects families on a more personal level, not just those cases of national or international attention.

President Bush also does not support the murder of babies.

For the last four years I have received at least every penny back in Federal taxes that I have paid, if not more.  I am far from wealthy, I’m not even considered in the middle zone of middle class.  So you can’t tell me that his tax cuts didn’t help anyone but the wealthy.  There may be holes in the system, where not everyone is getting a fair tax cut, but it’s been better for me that it was under the previous administration.  And that is if nothing else, an improvement.

In the last two years, President Bush has fought wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and has been working on many other domestic issues as well including working to bring our economy out of a recession; one that was already in the works before his election, and he’s making progress.  His leading opponent has shirked his own elected duties in pursuit of this election for the past two years, all the while criticizing the efforts of President Bush.  He SAYS he is for a stronger America, but for the last two years he has done nothing to improve America’s strength or position, only his own.

President Bush has shown me that he is a man of integrity, and not afraid to make clear decisions, even if it is the wrong one.  He stands behind what he does.  Even if he is wrong, he believes in himself, and he believes in this country.  I believe he has been as honest and upfront with us as he can be.  I believe he has shown restraint and diplomacy as much as he can.  And I believe he is more knowledgeable and experienced in fighting the war on terror far beyond reducing it to a mere “nuisance”, and protecting our soldiers and getting them home again.

In short, I am voting FOR the person I believe in.  A belief based on what I have seen and found out for myself.  Not what biased newspapers and television stations and campaign commercials want me to believe.