Voting

I said I was going to keep my vote secret, but the more I think about it the more I know it's a wrong decision to do so. This election is important and my friends should know what issues helped me make my decision. I didn't make up my mind until yesterday. I decided to go to Bush's and Kerry's websites to see what each offered. Frankly, I was not impressed with Bush. I support the war in Iraq, but I didn't support the US going in alone. I knew it would be a bad idea. It turns out that there weren't any weapons. That just doesn't sit well with me. Yes we did remove Saddam Hussein, but there are many other leaders that should be removed and are more of a threat than Hussein was.

I also did not like the fact that Bush wanted a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage. Social issues should not be decided by the constitution. I hate to tell you anti-homosexuals that there are actually five sexes. Not everyone is born a complete female or a complete male. This is not something pulled out of a hat. It is scientific. Gays want to marry, so let them. Mind your own business! If you don't like it, tough! I don't like it when you start preaching down my throat about God or that gays are bad!

Now on to Kerry. As you know I'm not crazy about him, but I did find some stuff that I do like about him. He believes in border patrol. That alone shows that he's tougher on terrorism than Bush is. Bush has not done anything for our borders. If he can't stop illegal immigration into this country, how is he going to stop terrorists from seeping in? We can easily protect ourselves from outside threats. But when the threats are in this country already, how are we suppose to stop them? We didn't stop 9/11.

Another issue I find important that I was very pleased to see was keeping schools open until six:
Offer 3.5 Million After-School Opportunities Through "School's Open 'Til Six"
John Kerry and John Edwards are strong supporters of after-school programs. They give students extra help, keep them out of trouble, and offer peace of mind to working parents. The Kerry-Edwards "School's Open 'Til 'Six" initiative will offer after-school opportunities to 3.5 million children, through programs that are open until 6 p.m. and offer safe transportation for children.
Do you know how great that will be? How much money parents are going to save by keeping their children in school and not having to take them into a daycare? It won't be good for daycares, but the bottom line is that it helps parents. This is especially helpful to low and middle income families. This means more jobs opening up because now we need people to stay with these students. Women will benefit from this tremendously. Families that can't afford daycare, won't have to worry about mommies having to only work a part-time job in order to be home in time to pick up the kids from school. This eventually will signify that more women will hold full-time jobs and more money will poor into the household.

Let's not forget about the children, either. They will receive extra help in the subjects needed and have time to finish their homework. Kids will not have the opportunity to get themselves into any trouble. With many children not knowing how to read, how could this not be an overall benefit for working families?

There are other issues I like, but these two struck home. I'm not a parent, but if I knew that I would be able to keep my children in school longer and not have to worry about additional costs, I would be a happy camper. Border patrol is also very important to me and I've mentioned it before.

As you have probably deduced by now, I'm voting for Kerry. The polls open today at one and as long as there isn't a four hour wait (like yesterday), I will cast my vote. I'm happy that I have found issues that are important to me. I was originally going to vote for Nader, but now I know that my vote will count. I could now at least get behind a candidate and not hate the president. Let's hope that Kerry does get elected on Tuesday.