Voting for the first time

Yesterday, I did something I’ve never done before at 21 years of age: vote in a presidential election.  As I stared down the ballot I realized how important and yet unimportant my choice was.  Obama is clearly going to win New York, and will probably win the election.  However, as a person, voting is standing for something or with something and as I looked down the ballot I realized I couldn’t stand one hundred percent with any candidate.  There were reasons I disliked McCain’s policies, yet reasons I thought he would do some things well.  There were things I disagreed with Obama about, while things I agreed with him on.  And lets be honest – who really trusts Nader to run the country?

 I live in a swing state – where I could easily cast a vote by registering on the day of the election – yet I am choosing to vote in New York.  Why? Because I believe local politics are equally important and I truly am not yet a New Hampshiran.  The act of voting is a lot tougher than I could have ever thought. 

Not a day goes by where I do not receive some scrap piece of paper saying here’s why you should vote for this person or that from presidential down to county clerk positions.  Not a day goes by where I don’t drive by people campaigning in the middle of town while cars honk in approval. 

I have to say I don’t think I’d be willing to stand out on a square and hold a sign for hours – I honestly hope that doing so does not convince any one individual to vote for any one candidate. 

In the past 3 days I’ve realized something about politics: they’re a very personal matter that is very publically dealt with in our country.  They run deep into our blood because they really do matter on a daily basis.  There are people who vote based on their wallet, people who vote based on ideas, people who vote based on religion, and people who vote based on hope that each day this world will become a better place.

As I put my pen to the paper to cast my absentee ballot I remembered the face of this little old woman who was on the opposite corner of some Obama supporters who was out supporting a candidate that is often un-discussed: peace.  Her face showed the pain of many years of disappointment, but her determination to stand on the corner in the freezing cold and hold a sign that simply stated “Peace” attested to the thread of hope she still holds on to.  And as I voted I tried to keep in mind that peace and love really should be at the center of everything we do. 

Who I voted for will have to remain unknown due to the freedom of private vote that we all can hold to.  But you should know that I voted with the concerns that penetrate my heart and mind on a daily basis at the forefront of my mind, I voted for what I felt was a path to a better America and a better world.

While we won’t be there in 4 years from know I hope with every bit of my being that we are closer to a world of peace and love.