COLUMN: Frustrated? Then vote!
Rejoice! After what seems like an eternity, the 2012 campaign season is now in its final month, much to the relief of most Americans.
For more than a year and a half, Americans have been pummeled almost nonstop with largely negative campaign ads, politicians promising the world through often misleading claims and a 24-hour news cycle that more often than not focuses on fluff and gaffes rather than the issues.
Unless you are lucky enough to be paid to write about politics in what is undisputedly the greatest student newspaper in the Milky Way, it's probably safe to say that you're sick of politics and just want Election Day to get here and be over with. In a campaign season marked by a lack of substance and vision from candidates, it is completely understandable to be disillusioned with politics.
But disillusionment and frustration is no excuse to not vote. Rather, it is a reason to vote.
The beauty of democracy is that if you are frustrated with the direction the country is headed in or are upset with actions a lawmaker has taken in power, you have the power to replace them and put somebody in place who better reflects your views.
It doesn't matter if you're a Democrat, a Republican or an independent. It doesn't matter if you're an Obama supporter, a Romney supporter or if you think they both suck. Nov. 6 is the day to make your voice heard.
And right now is when people need to make their voices heard. Despite all the empty campaign rhetoric coming from all sides, Election Day will truly be a pivotal moment in this country as we decide how we want to move forward as a society. (That's one of the few things President Obama and Mitt Romney can actually agree upon.)
The winners of the races and the results of the proposals on the ballot will have a lasting impact on the future of America, Michigan and the town you come from. Where we move from here as a nation is up to you.
That means you, as an individual, will be feeling the results of the election for years, as well.
If that's not a reason to vote, then what is?
