Date: 3 Nov 1998 02:41:06 -0000
From: "Censure and Move On"
To: Cameron Barrett
Subject: VOTE! This is not a hoax!

Today is Election Day. VOTE! And pass this e-mail on to at least 10 people right now telling THEM to vote! If you DO pass this on, Bill Gates will not send you to Disneyland, you will not see virgins having sex live on the Internet, you will not get life advice from Kurt Vonnegut, you will not see a frighteningly life-like dancing baby, Hank the Angry Drunken Dwarf will not win a beauty contest, an ill child will not be miraculously cured, Mrs. Fields won't sell you a $200 cookie recipe, your computer will not be protected from the all-powerful Good Times virus, and you will not wake up 3 days later in a motel bathtub full of ice... missing a kidney.

BUT YOU WILL help send a message to pro-impeachment, investigation-addicted, scandal-blinded politicos in Washington that it is time to MOVE ON with the business of the nation. And, you might even help send some of them packing for home.

And what will happen to you if you DON'T vote, and you DON'T pass this on? Absolutely nothing. Which is precisely what will happen with the real, pressing issues facing our country -- absolutely nothing.

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This message is sponsored by moveon.org. If you don't want any more email from us, simply reply and type "remove" in the subject. We promise not to bug you so much after the election.

But, despite this passionate plea, I still will not vote today. Why? Well, there are several reasons. The number one reason is that I simply do not care about politics, and would rather ignore them. But a second, and also important reason, is that I just do not have the time. Like most Americans, I work every day, all day and am very busy. Taking an hour or two out during the day to go vote about something I don't care about will cause a major impact into my schedule. It's just not worth the hassle.

Here's a thought. Why can't the government do something useful and move the official voting day to a Saturday or Sunday? Most Americans have weekends off and could probably make it to a voting center if they really wanted to. It would also help tremendously if there were more than one day we could vote.

What will it take to get me to vote? For one, I'd like to see some real candidates. I'm tired of seeing these losers running for Congress, or Governor, or whatever. It seems, every two years, the choices we have are getting worse and worse. Here in Michigan, we have a choice between an ex-lawyer for Dr. Jack Kevorkian and a guy who has done more harm to the education system in the past 4 years than every governor since the beginning of time. Since I am very pro-education, I'm forced to vote for Fieger, the nerd. Yeah, he's a grown man, but he sure is geeky looking. I'm not sure if I trust what he stands for, so I don't really want to vote for him either. So, I guess if I'm forced to vote, I'd had to vote for "none of the above." Over a year ago, I wrote a comparison of the Java Wars between Microsoft and Sun to the Republican/Democrat political system:

"I didn't vote in 1996 and probably won't vote again in 2000. Neither candidate is capable of running the country to my liking, so why should I participate?"

And L. Rive Gauche responded:

"Your choice to not vote is one that I recognize as one of the greatest freedoms of our system (after all, "elections" in the ol' USSR were won with well nigh 100% of the "voters" turning out). But as to "why participate" well, it's the participation of people like you that leads to the selection of candidates that are better than those who ran the last time around. You don't like who's running? Excellent. Find that man or woman whose opinions and work you admire and drag him or her into your party. Cajole, argue and convince him or her to run and voila! You've got a candidate you can feel good about supporting.

So, voting is no big deal, but participation is necessary."

Sure, I understand this completely. It's the same plea the email above is making. But I don't buy it. Until we get some *real* candidates on the ballots, it won't do me any good to vote.

Maybe we need an entire revamping of the political system. I don't mean for us to abandon democracy. No way, that's firmly ingrained into our country's history and is proven to work. What I mean is to change the way candidates become candidates. Don't simply leave it up to the wealthy fat cats and lawyers who have the money and backing to finance a run for office. Open it up to the public even further, throw in government monetary backing and let anybody who wants to run take a stab at it. Run it more like a pageant. Start with 50 people, and narrow it down until there are about five people. Then ask the American public to get out and vote. Five candidates are certainly better than two (or three).

If anyone has pointers that back up this concept, let me know. I surely can't be the first person to think that our voting system needs to be re-thought.

Cameron Barrett

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