Vote Your Mind Published June 14, 2009 By Capt. Allan Grandgenett 43rd Airlift Wing Command Post POPE AIR FORCE BASE, N.C. -- Six months have passed since the Presidential Election. The country has made it through the inauguration and the new administration's first 100 days. One would think that our ever-vigilant news media would tire of election reporting, but already snippets and speculation about 2010 are floating through the airwaves. The next election will see all 435 seats in the House of Representatives, 36 of 100 Senate seats, and 37 of 50 Governorships up for grabs. While this election may not get as much attention as presidential elections, it is no less significant. I'd be remiss if I didn't put in a "get out and vote" plug. You know the reasons as well as I do. If you forego your right to vote, don't complain about the results. Many in the world do not have suffrage, so we should not take ours for granted. Previous generations fought and died, and indeed we still do, to protect that right. Do not let those sacrifices be in vain: vote. I'd like to switch gears and talk about the act of voting itself. Voting is a decision. It's a choice in which we pick the candidate who will best represent our values. Unfortunately, I think many Americans fail to make an educated decision when they fill out the ballot. I'm not suggesting that the American voter is ignorant or the results of our elections are flawed. I'm simply observing that over the past two decades the country has become more and more polarized. It's very easy to get wrapped up in the rhetoric coming out of the press conferences and blogs. We become awestruck by good oratory, zippy one liners, tactically selected sound bites and clever slogans. We parrot the same accusations and promises we hear from the campaign ads and talk radio. In the end are we voting for the candidate who best reflects our values, or are we voting for the advertising executive who created the most emotionally appealing election infomercial? Before any commander commits his or her unit to a mission, serious study takes place. Intelligence is updated, threats assessed, training is refreshed and short falls considered. Safety is taken into account, operational risk is managed and courses of action are drawn up. Only then will a prudent commander give the order to execute. Why should executing our right to vote be any different? Unfortunately, many of us (myself included) get wrapped up in the politics of the event and vote with our emotions rather than our intellect. I submit to you that we owe it to ourselves and generations (both past and future) to be smart when we cast our votes. As the campaign for 2010 begins to spool up, ignore the rhetoric and slogans. Do some real research. I suggest www.VoteSmart.org or www.ontheissues.org as good starting points. Decide what your hot button issues are. Find out where each candidate stands on those issues. Not just your favorite candidate, but all of them. Find out how their efforts have helped or harmed their city, state or constituency. Do they have a real plan and real solutions to offer or just words and empathy? Ignore speeches and ads; they're spin and bias. Investigate the legislation they've sponsored. Look up their voting record, that's how you will find out where they really stand on the issues. Seek out the unvarnished truth, then you can make an educated decision at the ballot box.