October 15, 2004

I don't agree with Bush 100 percent, but he's my choice

In the past 10 presidential elections, I voted for the Democratic candidate four times and the Republican candidate six times. I have always tried to get a good sense of a candidate's suitability for office from newspapers and TV-news reports, after carefully filtering out reporters' biases as best I can.

So imagine my surprise when a friend asked, "Then how will you know whom to vote for?" when I mentioned that I hadn't watched the presidential debate.

The sudden realization that I live in a country where a significant percentage of the population bases their decision on the equivalent of a TV staged-reality show stunned me.

Wake up, folks. Hollywood and Washington are replete with great actors. Please don't vote to elect someone based on their performance in front of a camera. Look a little deeper; it isn't that difficult. Our national well-being is at stake in the upcoming election.

When I asked this friend about John Kerry's military record and his post-Vietnam service testimony before Congress, his response was, "Who cares, that was 30 years ago."

Again, my friend's opinion seems to reflect that of a significant percentage of American voters.

Personally, I'm going to vote Republican this time. I don't agree with everything this administration is doing; but heck, I don't agree with everything the love of my life has done in the past 33 years, either.

However, she and I can agree to disagree on things without rancor and animosity, and we can do the same with the people elected to handle our government.

Rex A. Hoover
Sumerduck