Montane :: Ahh… I love the idea of mandatory service. I think it would provide a benefit for a whole slew of reasons… and mostly because of the natural “feedback” effect that happens when people have to actually *do* something and get involved in the solution somehow… rather than whining about the problem. And yeah… I dislike the the fact that most politicians are lawyers. It makes them way too quick to create laws to solve problems that aren’t law-problems.

John :: Yeah… I hear people talking about the negative commercials and how it turns them off. But really, commercials are idiotic anyway, whether they’re for politics or feminine lubrication or for credit cards. I tune them out. All of my thoughts on the candidates comes from my own little research. I go to a site that respresents a core set of my values, and they usually have a breakdown of where the candidates stand (or how the candidates answered direct questions) on my core issues. Now, not every voter will go to the site I may go to, because they have different core values than me, but there are many resources to find out who to vote for without getting too fatigued.

Heather :: Holy smokes do I whole-heartedly agree! In the welfare office?! That *is* buying votes and sends a terrible message to the working class and entrepeneurial class.

You’re completely right about the actual voting not being too taxing. There are a lot of things I wish that I only had to do every two yeras. Of course, there are some local elections a little more often but let’s not worry about that.

The thing that I think you may have overlooked is that it may not be the process of voting, but the voting “season” that wears you out. I’ll admit, by this point in the election cycle, I’m sick of the hype. Commercials have gotten so crazy, it’s hard to believe that there is any candidate who wouldn’t rather murder me in my sleep if it would help him or her get elected. And since, like Christmas, the season seems to get longer every year, by election day, I’ve wished it was over months earlier.

Of course, I still would rather protect my interests than throw my hands up in disgust and sleep late on Tuesday.

That said, I haven’t voted in years. I haven’t liked anyone enough to vote for them. The last person I voted for…Bush the senior for pres. Think about this: how many people do you know trust lawyers or have anything good to say about them. Yet the majority of politicians are just that, lawyers.

Hello Steve:
Hey this was grrrrrrreat! I really like the way you analyzed the so called disenfranchisement of young voters and set the record straight! The fact that you brought up the convicted felons makes a lot of sense. Given my demographic I am especially sensitive to young men who tell me: “Hey I already caught a case and I can’t vote, ever.” I have not found any place in the Constitution that disallows excons from voting. I realize that the Founding Fathers restricted the voting to the landed aristocracy, but I thought they were more Enlightened on matters of redemption…And your philosophy about lazies and entertainment junkies voting weakening the quality of election results makes sooooo much sense! Ha! Thanks for salient thoughts, as ever. And everyone needs to take a blogging break from time to time. If you are playing your guitar, then I hope you are rocking hard:)