Politics

For the thrid time in a row, we have a minority government. This does not surprise me since only 59% of us voted!! 59%!! That is horrendous. Here is my take on this - if you don't vote, then shut up. Plain and simple. Everyday I hear of someone complaining about our government. When I ask, did you vote? The answer, 90% of the time is No or there was no point. uh...hello? How do you expect it to change if you don't speak up??
We had 41% NOT vote. That could have made a change. A big change. Perhaps a change that everyone is crying about.

My friends in the US are still going thru their campaigns - man, that must be painful. They only have 2 to choose from. You are either Republican or Democrat. The US campaign, in my opinion, has become a circus. Is McCain too old? Is Obama a muslim? Let's get to the things that matter! Will the candidate you vote for embody the values you are looking for? What is their platform about? Will they address the issues that are important - health care, economy, the war??

Harvard University conducted an interesting study that they are NOT allowed to publish. Luckily newspapers can report on it!
It had 2 portfolios - 1 was the Republican platform, the other Democrat. The portfolios were not titled, they were unnamed, so those participating in the study did not know which belonged to each candidate. For this study, you had to indicate what you were voting before reading the platform. Then they read the portfolios and selected which one would be the one they are voting for, based on what was in their platform.
This is the shocking part - 72% of those who said they were voting Republican selected the DEMOCRAT portfolio!! 21% of those who said Democrat, selected REPUBLICAN!!

What does this mean?? I think people get caught up in what they are "supposed" to vote and don't actually choose for themselves. This is sad!

So here is my 2 cents for my US friends......

1) Please learn from our last election - GET OUT AND VOTE!!

2) KNOW your candidate. Do not choose someone that you do not believe in. Do not choose someone because they will be the first black president. Do not choose someone because they picked a female VP. Do not vote based on race. Do not vote based on sex. Vote with your gut and heart.

Good luck to my friends south of the border. I hope the circus will be over for you soon!