EVERY VOTE COUNTS, EXERCISE YOURS

MY VOTE DOESN’T COUNT, DOES IT?
By Laura Mirabal

On November 2nd, the citizens of this country will have the opportunity and the great privilege of exercising their right to vote in the mid-term elections. We should all vote – this is a right coveted by many in parts of the world who do not have it.

Every time I vote whether it is a local, state or national election, I think about my country’s form of government, and how it came to be those centuries ago. Perhaps many never considered it a big deal that some guys got together in Philadelphia to forge ideas to form a new government never seen before in their time or of what the outcome would be after it was established. Like many of us, I take the freedom; this form of government affords me, for granted, but not anymore. I now realize how fragile freedom is and that we must be vigilant to preserve it.

When the Iraqis exercised their right to vote, I was fortunate to see these people who thought that their right to vote was worth walking to the polling places, standing in line for hours and fearing for their lives; some were wounded and killed. I remember seeing videos of many, leaving the polling places, raising their index fingers to show the ink mark left there as an indelible mark that they were participants to history.

What is our excuse for not voting?

There are many who believe that their vote does not count, well I wonder if those still feel that way today after seeing the victory wins of seven Tea Party nominees in the mid-term primaries around the country? Our vote does count and we must not lose track of this fact in the face of forces bent on discouraging us.

President Obama did not win the 2008 election by a landslide percentage of votes - it was 52 to 46. How would those 6 percentage points helped in changing the course of the forces assaulting us today.

Every American who is a registered voter should want to run to the voting booth and cast their vote for the sake of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. You don’t have to be “political” to understand that everything that Congress does affects our daily lives. Therefore, it is up to us to elect those who believe in these:

"Core Values"

• Fiscal Responsibility (caution and moderation with government expenditures)
• Constitutionally Limited Government
• Free Markets

Our beloved Constitution and our democratic form of government are worth fighting for.

I second Nathan Hale’s sentiment: "I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country," I only regret that we have but one VOTE -. Make it count.

Miami, FL., USA
10/24/2010