How you vote — decide for yourself

It’s none of my business how you vote, and it’s as easy for me as for anyone to be fooled by the wrong politicians, or to be under-impressed by the right ones. I remember voting against one man basically because he wasn’t a good enough public speaker to get his ideas across in a way that impressed me that year. I didn’t like his voice either. But I later regretted not voting for him. So when I read about Oprah Winfrey promoting a presidential candidate, I find it disturbing. I have nothing against Oprah, or any other celebrity who might back a particular candidate. In fact I’d rather see celebrities in the news for this reason than for some of the seedier reasons we’re forced to hear about them on the nightly news. I admire a lot that Oprah has done, and especially that she promotes important issues, though I don’t know whether she’s made clear all her positions on the issues our next president will face, or why I should listen to her over anyone else about who should be president. I take her more seriously than many others who seem to make the news on a regular basis, and if she were to offer me advice about how to be a successful talk show host, and I wanted to be one, you better believe I’d be all ears. As a reader and writer I’m also aware of how much influence Oprah has on which books sell. But I sincerely hope people consider that this is a bigger decision than which novel to read next. Human lives, our economy, and possibly the future of the planet hang in the balance.

I listen to my favorite celebrities, too, if they seem knowledgeable about the issues they’re offering opinions on. There are some celebrities who’ve openly, actively opposed the Iraq War from the start and demonstrated or spoken out publicly against it. (The actual video referred to in the last link can be found here, in the 12/19/2002 rebroadcast of a 12/03/2002 Charlie Rose segment.) They spoke out even while the rest of us were still swallowing all the fear the Bush administration could feed us after 9/11. Some of these same celebrities have made me more aware of certain issues, which I in turn learn more about on my own. Still I do my own reading and think the issues through before I vote. I realize we’re all strapped for time, and reliable information is hard to come by, but that doesn’t mean we should abandon our decision making responsibility in favor of any celebrity, just as our leaders shouldn’t abandon their responsibility to every voter in favor of more power for themselves, or in favor of their loyalty to wealthy backers.

Dog training expert Cesar Millan said recently on the Tavis Smiley show that humans are the only animals who follow unstable leaders. I’m not so sure I agree that other animals always choose the best leaders either, or that we should rely on instinct to get us there, but I am sure we humans have a frightening tendency to choose leaders poorly. The slow disintegration of our civil rights in the last decade is strong evidence of this. The creeping power that corporations have gained in our country, over the rights of individual citizens, over the past century is also evidence. It’s leaders we’ve chosen who have allowed these things to happen. The qualities that make a good leader aren’t always the same qualities that get people into leadership positions in our culture, and especially in our electoral system, where money seems to matter so much. But short of dramatic campaign reforms, which aren’t going to happen before the next general election, we have to use our best judgment. We know by now that the best campaigner or public speaker doesn’t always make the best legislator or president. Sometimes the most reluctant leader is the best, the one humble enough to consider that he might sometimes be wrong, the one who seeks counsel from wise, balanced, and experienced people, no matter which party they belong to. But reluctant, humble-minded people don’t often go into politics. Those who do are too often control freaks, power hungry, or simply willing to do anything for wealthy backers. They may even be idealists with the best of intentions, but also misguided or too inexperienced. The best candidate is sometimes more difficult to see. Sometimes the news media ignores him completely. One of the most media-ignored Democratic candidates, Dennis Kucinich (pdf link), made a point-by-point argument against the Iraq War in October of 2002, when some of the other candidates were supporting the move to war.

It’s important when we make decisions like this that we distinguish between thinking for ourselves and being influenced by others, especially others whom we don’t know all that well, such as news sources, celebrities, or candidates — or bloggers for that matter. It’s important to understand how propaganda works. I especially like to refresh my awareness of propaganda tactics when elections roll around or I have to make an important decision that others who might try to influence me have a stake in. The cleverest propagandists sometimes do their best not to let you know they have a stake in the outcome.

Whoever you decide to vote for, please do some research on your own, and vote your conscience. Think for yourself. Don’t let any celebrity, religious leader, corporation, your friends, neighbors, coworkers, opinionated bloggers like me, or any one news source guide you. Don’t let any candidate’s gender, race, religion, rhetoric, public speaking ability, good looks, sex appeal, wardrobe, haircut, pet, spouse, mud-slinging tactics, misspent youth, car, or the slick appeal of their ads influence you out of thinking for yourself and casting your vote using your best decision-making skills based on what kind of leader they’ll likely be — for which the best evidence, in my opinion, is usually their past track record and the reasons they own up to for it.

You have more power than you realize, in every election, especially when you consider how many people don’t bother to vote. Every vote counts, possibly more so because of all those non-voters. Use your vote wisely, and if you happen to vote for the same person as your favorite celebrity, great. Maybe you just happen to be good at choosing favorite celebs. Just make sure your vote is your decision, and the best decision you can make. Care enough to research and be conscientious. A well-thought-out vote makes a lot more sense than a mindless, sheep-like one. Our future depends on it. Not only is the whole country waiting to see who’ll lead the USA next, the whole world is holding its breath.