Your Vote Counts: Make an Informed Decision

Today is the day. Today it will be decided who the President of the United States of America will be for the next four years. While four years isn’t really that long of a time, it’s long enough to do damage for MANY years to come. The incoming President will decide who a number of Supreme Court Justices will be. Those Supreme Court Justices will make decisions, which can go on to affect our children and our children’s children. That’s just one of the factors that I took into account when I voted.

Each family has their own issues that are important to them and hopefully you are basing your vote off of which candidate will work to correct those issues and not solely on the ads and media stories. Too often I see people base their decisions off of what is plastered in the media which by the way, it extremely bias. I see young adults voting simply based on their parent’s and whom they have chosen. I have also recently seen people choosing who to vote for based on them knowing a lot of people who think one candidate is more intelligent than the other. I’m sorry but if I missed that intelligence test that both candidates took then please feel free to give me the results because I would love to see it. It’s my opinion that NONE of these are good options when making your choice on whom to vote for this election!

I beg you to sit down this morning, have a list of important issues for YOUR future and YOUR KID’S future. You need to think of things that will directly affect you. For me, one of the most obvious and important issues is military support. The last 8 years has been full of budget and personnel cuts for our military. I have seen first hand what those cuts have done to daily operations and the effect they have had on the personnel that are still serving. That directly affects my family seeing as my husband is still serving and has at least another 5 years of serving. Those personnel cuts have caused my husband to work longer hours and to not only do his job but to take on the job of others. This means he’s not home to see his children, it means that his subordinates aren’t home with their families. It means that many military personnel are working 12 or more hours a day. Then there is also the fact that those who are deployed don’t have the equipment needed or even working equipment. It means that they are short handed personnel because “we need to leave Iraq and Afghanistan”. While you may think these things don’t directly affect you, they do. These men and women are in Iraq and Afghanistan to ensure that we do not have a repeat of September 11^th. ISIS is not gone, they are ramping up and we should be ramping up our military so that we can ensure the safety of each and every person living in the United States!

Listen, you may not feel that the military support is important to you directly. I get it. I do, however, beg you to do your research. Once you make a list of those issues that directly affect your family then go to each candidates website. Research their platforms and their views on those issues. If the candidate has a past political career then research how they voted on issues that correlate to what matters to you. Don’t base your decision on what the media says or even how the candidate speaks at a debate or rally. Get to the heart of the issues. For me, I voted to ensure that our military would be supported and built up. I didn’t just research the Presidential candidates; I researched each candidate. I am a Florida voter and therefore we are voting for Mayors, Judges and to retain or not retain Court of Appeal Judges. I am a woman of faith and I believe strongly in the Second Amendment and therefore I voted to retain or not retain Judges based on their stances regarding issues important to me. I researched the plan of action for the city when voting for Mayor. I researched the law career of those running for District Courts. Each and every candidate will affect you and it’s so important that you realize this.

I am not trying to sway your vote one-way or the other. I totally understand that each person has his or her own view and opinions. That is what is so beautiful about being and American. I am encouraging you to make INFORMED decisions though. I know that the President is the Commander and Chief of the military and is ultimately my husband’s boss. I know that Judges make precedence in cases and therefore affect the future ruling on cases. The Mayor can make or break a city. Each and every vote can and will affect you and your kids. You make informed decisions on every other aspect of your life; do the same for this one. When you leave the polls today, be able to give an informed answer if asked why you voted the way you did. I know that I can.