What To Consider When Choosing The Next President

With the 2008 presidential election still many months away, most of us have already been besieged with eager politicians and campaign rhetoric. By the time November rolls around, there is a good chance that we will be more interested in ending the insanity than who wins the election.

Here are 4 suggestions to help you be sure you’ll make an informed choice when voting:

1. Pay attention and become an informed voter. Ask yourself, what are the candidates saying about what they plan to do? Reform taxes? Fix education? Improve the economy? How? Are they specific or just speaking in platitudes? Not sure? Go to the candidates’ website and read their actual speeches.

2. Decide what is important to you. Make a list of what you think matters; keep it handy and listen for those items or issues. Pretty soon you will be able to filter out what you don’t care about and, at the same time, learn to critique what you hear.

3. Ask questions of the media coverage. They don’t tell you what to think, but they do tell you what to think about. Ever noticed that you will see and hear about some issues and events but not others? Learn to critique press stories and ask questions about what you are and are not hearing and seeing.

4. Vote for the candidate not just the issues. Learn about the entire person before deciding. Trust your own instincts, not just the media or your friends and family.

Be sure to look at the big picture and seriously consider what candidate is best for the office.
You never want to vote for someone because they are “just not as bad” as the other candidate - that is a waste of a powerful vote. Remember, the President of the United States is the leader of our nation, and although it may be easy to be cavalier about your right to vote, voting is a great honor. You call the shots in who runs the country and how it is run – that is what democracy is all about.