By Alan Marsden
Election Day, Tuesday, November 2nd, 2010, is expected to be historic with a power-shift predicted two years into Barack Obama’s presidency. But in my world it will be historic for another reason. My youngest child will be heading to the polls for the first time. Although he’s still in high school, my son is 18-years-old and registered to vote.
I love my son and I consider him to be bright, but the thought of him choosing yes or no on whether imposing state and local fees should require approval by super majority, or whether certain corporate tax-breaks should be repealed causes me to wonder “should this kid be voting?” Well the 26th Amendment says yes but does common sense?
The answer, of course, is to use this as a “teaching moment.” Rather than holding a seminar with charts and graphs, we’ve been reading from the 2010 Election Guide each day, one ballot measure per day. And we’ve discussed the candidates, their party affiliations and the implications of not just individual candidates winning, but how power is divided in the two-party system. I want to make it clear I am not telling him HOW to vote.
The whole thing has caused me to wonder: “how many of us are truly prepared to make decisions in the polling booth?” You don’t have to be 18 to lack sufficient understanding of the critically important issues and races we each will help decide on Election Day. I am certain my 18-year-old will be better prepared than many older adults on Tuesday because he and I are taking the time to understand the issues on the ballot. If I’m being honest, however, I’m not sure that he’d be doing it if I weren’t nudging him. Neither am I sure I’d be studying the Voter Guide if my job didn’t require it. I hope I would.
Yes I am looking at this election as a rite of passage for my son. But more importantly it is simply “a right.” I hope it allows me to better appreciate that right and maybe it will rub-off on to my boy, at least a little bit.
