When I turned 18 in the late 80’s I wasn’t one of those people who ran out to register to Rock The Vote no matter how much MTV wanted me to. I would only vote when a black man or a woman ran for President. I had enough of rich, white, straight men calling the shots. In 2008 I guess enough of those old-school boys died off and it was time for a new era to begin. It was going to be Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton running for President, I had to put up or shut up, so I registered to vote. I would have preferred a black woman but Oprah must have been busy the day they held try outs.
Being a politician is a job. They are here to represent their party and to advance their own career to springboard themselves to the next plateau. Politicians try to buy our votes by telling us what we want to hear. However, I’d gladly sell my vote to any politician for donations instead of lies. The millions of dollars in campaign funds they receive to fill the air waves with ads slandering one another could be used for good. If they gave their campaign funds to charity then I’d give them my vote. How many underprivileged families could that feed? How many homeless could that house?
I still vote off and on when I think it’s important, which most of the time, I don’t think it is. If a cause is truly important to me, I don’t rely on politicians to make the changes I want. One politician can’t make a difference but a large group of people united for a common cause can. Just look at the civil rights movement, the right for women to vote or for gays to marry. This year the only reason I’ll vote is to keep Donald Trump out of office. Really America, Donald Trump? Sometimes I feel like I’m the only one who ever saw Celebrity Apprentice.
When it comes to voting, I don’t understand voting based solely on a political party and then getting so worked up if that party loses. The only thing I’m worked up about is knowing that I’ll have to listen to the whining because of the results of next year’s election, it’s giving me agida already. Republican? Democrat? Does it really matter? Vote! Don’t vote! Either way, don’t complain to me, because I don’t want to hear it.