Vote Enthusiastically!

Every day friends tell me how fed up they are – politicians don’t give a damn about us – they’re just out for themselves – crooks, every one of them – it’s a dirty business – I just can’t get enthusiastic about voting.

I keep telling myself we are lucky to have the freedom to choose.

It is easy to feel negative. We are surrounded by voices telling us how bad the other side is. Party competition became party warfare decades ago. Will we ever find a middle ground or are we doomed to a constantly shifting political demilitarized zone? Republicans say that Democrats want to take away our freedoms and are closet communists and Democrats assert that Republicans will starve the poor and are closet fascists. The extreme voices in both parties dominate our culture. Moderates are considered wimps or naïve simpletons. Each side says the other is immoral. No wonder people are fed up.

What’s my solution? Vote and get your family and friends to vote. Enthusiastically exercise your choice. Make that choice based on our common interests.

How? Start with economic realities because money determines how we all live – the neighborhoods we live in, the schools our children go to, the food we eat, etc. You might be thinking, “We are the wealthiest, most powerful nation on earth so why is he talking about money?” I’m wondering if you know that despite all our wealth, half of all Americans have been losing economically for almost half a century. One in four has lost big time.

I have chosen a candidate who is not only embarrassed by that reality but also determined to do something about it. I do not believe so many Americans are losing because they are lazy and unwilling to work. Millions of underpaid working people have been keeping us going these last months – changing bed pans, cleaning, stocking shelves, delivering, etc. Doesn’t everyone willing to work deserve a living wage? Shouldn’t we all benefit from our country’s economic growth?

I want a President who will both support businesses AND the working people who keep their wheels turning. I think Donald Trump will do the first but not the second. I think Joe Biden will do both. Whether or not you love either of them, I say be grateful that you can choose. Now more than ever we should be ecstatic that we have this choice. Hopefully, voter turnout in November will be 70% or more for the first time in decades, an unambiguous statement that the results represent what we want.

If the pandemic has taught us anything, it is that courage and the American work ethic live on. We see it in our front-line workers from nursing home janitors to hospital doctors. I will vote for Joe Biden because, unlike his opponent, he stands with them.

John Pennington, Wayne, NJ