(HOST) Election Day 2008 is nearly here, and commentator Bill Seamans is thinking about the responsibility, priviledge and opportunity – of voting.
(SEAMANS) Just six more days to go! And who to vote for weighs more heavily than ever on those who have taken the time to seriously think about the kind of country in which we want to stake our future. The intense interest and extraordinary voluntary involvement in the campaign raises the hope that many will not be robo-voters but will follow their conscience regardless of political pressure because they believe "it’s the right thing to do."
At this late stage, Barack Obama riding favorable polls is urging his supporters to fight off complacency and take nothing for granted. John McCain is urging his followers to recall Yogi’s famous dictum: "It ain’t over ‘til it’s over!" We the people will go to the polls next Tuesday impelled by various feelings. The most personal one – an appreciation for the virtually sacred privilege of declaring one’s beliefs in a secret ballot without recrimination.
At the moment we push the lever, touch the screen or pencil in our vote we are at that second in time equal to the most powerful persons in the country as they cast their ballots. That is why we must recoil at any attempt to deny the vote to anyone by deliberate fraud which we must make our strongest efforts to repel during these last few days.
I, myself, as a veteran of World War Two in Europe and later as a foreign correspondent who has worked in fifty-one countries have witnessed too many elections in which the people were told at gunpoint how to vote. Therefore, whenever I have cast my ballot, whether for the town council or for the most powerful office in the world, I have done so with a profound appreciation for the sacrifices of the over a million men and women who have died in battle from the Revolutionary War to today, to give me that "virtually sacred privilege."
While I react to past experiences, this election lays a historic heavy burden on our youth looking to their future. As they rebel against being called "kids" while their peers are dying daily in Iraq and Afghanistan they are showing their maturity by their extraordinary interest and involvement in this election.
This in many ways is THEIR election and they are reacting with an impressive awareness of that responsibility. Will they, having been exposed to the reality of a harsh civics lesson on tv and the Internet, also rebel against the attack on reason by falsehoods, on political decency by smear, on great ideas and ideals by the toxic hatred spewed by many radio talk show hosts.
Our youth’s future, for the most part, will be cast next Tuesday and it’s hoped that a new "ism" emerges from the nation’s voting booths – a new political ideal called "Concernism" that revives for the future of our young people a new and vigorous possibility of achieving the American Dream.