Making REAL Change

With this being the last posting before many people go out and vote on Tuesday November 4th I just wanted to take the opportunity to focus people on a topic that is very important to me. Many people are excited to vote for Sen. Obama or for Sen. McCain, as well they should be, but what's important is that people recognize that all the votes they will cast on Tuesday will be equally important. There will be ballot initiatives in states and municipalities that will have a very real and meaningful impact on people's lives.

Another thing to keep an eye is on the Democratic ticket. There are a number of Democrats that are running lower on the ballot that many people will vote for because they are voting for Obama. The important thing for voters to do is to find out who these Democratic candidates are. In an effort to maintain and expand on a majority in the Senate and House the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) are running a good number of conservative Democratic candidates that some Obama supporters ordinarily wouldn't vote for.

Voters need to be able to harness the energy surrounding this historic election. These feeling aren't necessarily limited to Democratic voters. There is a swirl around the Republican party over the historic nomination of Gov. Sarah Palin as a Vice-Presidential candidate. For the first time in its history the Republican party is nominating a woman for the second highest office in this nation. It is imperative that supporters to the McCain-Palin ticket know about district Congressional races and municipality races in order to know if a candidate is speaking to their needs. Republican supporters must recognize whether or a not a candidate is sincerely speaking to their concerns and issues, or is just planning to capitalize off of the huge expected voter turnout.

About four years ago, I saw the huge efforts made by Diddy and others particularly in the hip-hop community with the "Vote or Die" campaign. Though I was happy about their civic engagement I thought they were particularly quiet on lower ballot races that would affect voters' lives just as much as the presidential election. In 2006 (politically referred to as "off-year" or "midterm" election) there was not a mass get out the vote effort though there were important Gubenatorial, Congressional and Senatorial elections that changed the balance of power in both chambers of Congress. In no uncertain terms, be it real or perceived did celebrity activist try to drum up any voter attention to these elections. The get out the vote effort was non existent. This type of fair-weather civic engagement will not create real change. It is important to vote for presidential candidates but citizens must be informed of all their elected representatives in order to properly hold them accountable for the decisions that they make, and the way those decisions affect people's lives.

President George Bush has shown us that perhaps a President can affect everyday citizens lives in ways we never thought a president could, or even in ways that the constitution forbids a president from doing. With that in mind, the efforts to rally citizens to vote in this presidential election is more than justified. Citizens should always look to exercise their civic rights. However when going into the voting booth, exercise not only your right to vote, but your right to be educated. I recognize a vast majority of my readers are college educated, and internet saavy. Many of us also have family members who may be voting for the first time, or out of excitement for the presidential election. It is our job to know all the races and ballot initiatives that will be at stake on November 4th in our particular states, cities, towns, municipalities and/or communities. It is important to a democracy to have an excited voter, it is a necessity of a democracy to have an informed one. Happy Voting!