The swing vote might be more worried about heat and electricity than voting next week? The rest of our lives may get decided on Tuesday. History changed? You know all about exercising your right to vote. If you don't, you can't really complain now can you? I don't think I'm going to far out on a limb when I say there is a lot of complaining and some potential for a poor turnout on Tuesday.
Haven't you ever wondered why it is that more of the country votes for American Idol then when it's time to elect a president?
Maybe people find American Idol a greater priority? Perhaps it's more important to people to cast their vote for the next rock star? Or maybe the network just makes it easier to vote? I suppose we'll never know why, but it's a fact I always wonder about.
I must fit in some strange new intersection of those who always vote... have never once seen American Idol... and am freezing! Hurricane Sandy only really feels lousy if you can't watch it on the news because you have no electricity and you're sitting in your cold dark house for a few nights in a row now. Well then... it's a hurricane.
If you happen to be one of the lucky new members of the "hurricane of the month club," you know what I'm talking about. I'm writing this article from power I am getting from the cigarette lighter in my car. Finally, a reason for the cigarette lighter! The silver lining in Hurricane Sandy is the new found popularity of the cigarette lighter.
Other than that, you have to wonder how this will impact next Tuesday. For the last four years we've debated and debated what issue would decide this election. I've pontificated weekly on national television that it would be something we couldn't even imagine that happens the week of the election... for at least a year now. I ignored the polls and kept repeating, we'll see what happens the week of the election. Surprise!
And now I find myself worried about the frozen pipes, a shower with no hot water and my dying cell phone... more than next Tuesday. Embarrassing, I know.
It's not the employment numbers. It's not the price of gas, although there is limited supply in New York as an added bonus. It's not the ever shrinking value of my home. It's not the economy. It's not foreign policy. It's not payroll taxes my small business has to watch. It's not even health insurance we can barely afford.
It's not one of the issue's I would have ever guessed. Personally, my life just took a surprising twist. Sort of like a hurricane? I'm freezing. My I Phone is not my first choice for news. Nor for writing articles! And I'm just a little out of touch suddenly while I worry about dinner for my 14 year old. The bank is closed. So is CVS. I guess Stop and Shop is feeling worse then my refrigerator and closed for odor? There's no traffic lights working. No lights at all. There's a lot of sirens in the neighborhood swirling around my fancy zip code and the dangling live wires with century old very tall tree's lying about.
I'm not whining. Just distracted more than a wee bit. And I do love politics. After the NY Knicks and my adored football Giants, it's my favorite sport. I'm also a big believer in being a part of the solution, not crying about the problem. So I actually do vote. Always. Why wouldn't you?
Just so you have a point of reference if you've never seen me on television or read a word I've written, I even watch C-Span and read 1100 page bills while congress debates them. I'm pretty sure even the people who vote on those bills don't read them. In other words, unless there's a hurricane, I'm voting. I consider it a seriously big perk about living in the United States. At least, I've always thought so.
So before my gas runs out and the cigarette lighter no longer works, I wanted to make one point. Vote anyway. Always. There's no excuse. No distraction worth the cost. It's nothing to whine about. It's our future. Don't let Sandy be the swing vote.