Despite what you might have been told, voting in midterm elections does matter.
Is President Obama on the ballot? Well, no. That doesn’t make the election any less important though. In a representative democracy we don’t get to vote on every proposed law, so the only real say we have is who votes on the laws for us. That’s why elections, such as the one for Florida’s U.S. senator, are still important.
Even if none of the candidates have a slogan as catchy as “Yes we can.”
Do you like Obamacare and did you jump for joy when it passed? Or were you one of the majority of Americans who did not agree with the passage of the bill? Quite frankly, no matter which side you fall on, no one from the Senate really asked for our opinions; they were more concerned about which way their party was voting.
And now is your time to give them your opinion.
Of course none of this applies to just the health care law. Any decision you have an opinion on will do. It’s really quite simple, too. All you have to do is find out which candidate shares your viewpoint on whatever issue you think is important, and just go out and vote for him or her.
This is the best way to make your opinions heard on Capitol Hill.
And don’t think for a minute the only elections that are important are the federal ones.
The health care issue applies to the Florida attorney general election as well.
Do you want to vote for a candidate who will continue Bill McCollum’s lawsuit against the federal government or a candidate who would pull back a bit? Either way, there is a candidate for you.
You might even argue the most important elections we have coming up are the statewide elections. One of them just so happens to be that no-big-deal governor election.
The choices might not be all that great for this one, but your vote still matters. I assume most people out there care about the sky-high unemployment rate and horrible economy of our state. That’s just one of the many important issues that are at stake in this election. Just seeing which candidate’s opinion matches up with your own allows your viewpoints to be heard the way they were meant to be.
So many people feel like it doesn’t even matter what they believe. This might explain why voter turnout is so much lower in midterm election years than in years when a presidential candidate is on the ballot.
A senator who has gone against the will of his or her constituents can be voted out in favor of someone who they believe will serve them better. But to do that, you have to vote first.
Lets face it, everyone wants to have his or her opinions heard. Most people have a stance on whether they like a certain president of ours or not. Coincidentally, a lot of us like to voice our opinions too. So, if you’re going to complain about a member of government, the least you can do is make a difference with your vote.
If you don’t vote, then don’t complain.
Chris Dodson is a first-year political science and finance student. His column appears every Monday.
