ProgressOhio

Feel free to pass this on to those stubborn folks who think voting does not matter.

Leading up to this historic election, I've heard folks give lot's of reasons for sitting it out. The reasons range from old standards like "both parties are bought and sold" to my personal favorite "there isn't a dimes worth of difference between 'em". But in these times of economic depression and war without end, these folksy excuses just don't work anymore.

Voter apathy has been with us since our Republic was formed. Candidates and political scientists, pollsters and pundits have spent untold amounts of money and time attempting to explain it - and with good reason. Out of over 200 million eligible voters in America, just over half make the trip to the polls. The last two presidential elections have been decided by just over 50 million voters. Put another way, our national leadership is chosen by far less than 20 percent of the total population.

This statistic should concern everyone who believes that our freedoms are worth fighting - and dying - for. The current occupant of the Oval Office is quick to use the spread of democracy as a justification for attacking other sovereign countries. Yet the same man has not a word to say about the sorry state of our own democracy.

Everyone one us knows someone whether it be a friend, neighbor or a member of our own family who has a lot riding on the outcome of this election. Now here are some reasons why you - if not for yourself - should make that trip to polls.

We all know someone who needs access to affordable healthcare. Do you have a friend is unemployed or underemployed and struggling to make ends meet? Is your child's school under-funded and his or her teacher underpaid? Do you know a single parent struggling to pay for daycare while working two jobs?

What about your neighbor with a son or daughter doing a second, third or even fourth tour of duty in Iraq? What about veterans who have been denied the benefits they deserve?

Are you or a coworker facing the loss of a job because of outsourcing? Is your father or mother - after a lifetime of work - seeing their pension squandered by reckless corporate interests?

I could go on but you get the point.

The choice of staying home out of a misguided sense of rebellion or just plain apathy simply won't wash. If you truly believe that the sacrifices of generations past have been worth it, you will go to the polls. If you think that protecting our hard won freedoms is more than just an empty slogan, you will go to the polls. If you think we need to change this country, you will vote in November.

You have no more excuses.