register to vote

Oh lord! In trying to work out a date for celebrating a friend's birthday (his big 5-0), somehow we got on the topic of politics, and of course, the Presidential election. We've known each other for years, and I don't know who was more shocked and dismayed at this part of the conversation - when I casually mentioned I won't be voting for John Kerry. You can't imagine the venom from this dedicated anti-Bush guy (I'll bet you a milllion dollars he still has his LICK BUSH button from 1992), and the torrent of outrage at how my simple, single, not-Kerry vote was going to crumble democracy as we know it. I was equally shocked and dismayed that this man who I've known for well over a decade actually thought I'd vote for Kerry! I've voted in 6 Presidential elections, and only twice for a major party candidate - surprisingly, one of whom actually won.

Of course, whenever we talk politics, we wind up yelling, even though we actually agree on most things; I suppose like most left-leaning people, we still like to get carried away about the specifics, and carried away we did. After yelling at him about how he's wasting his time, and how "YOU PEOPLE are gonna blow it again, by wasting your time berating us perennial 3rd party voters, and not going after people who might actually vote for your guy" I asked him a question:

How many people have you registered to vote? Of course, his answer was - "none." I then told him that my website has a link on top for folks to register to vote via Working For Change/League of Women Voters. I figured this is as good a time as any to point out the link up there and to urge folks to use it, and other folks with websites (especially you lefties) to add a similar link. Now is the time to do this, to get people on the road to actually voting. I'm not gonna give anyone any crap about if you don't vote, you can't complain (another insulting and stupid thing people say ---- one of the beautiful things about our democracy is that the two rights are not dependent on each other) - I happen to think you ought to do both, but also that there may be valid reasons not to do one or the other. But give yourself the option - now; it is your right, and many would argue, your duty - so register to vote, and have another avenue to voice your opinion.