I am thankful to live in a country and in a time that allows me the right to vote. It is a great gift and honor to have a say in which men and women will represent me, my family and our country in the legislature. However, as grateful as I am for this great privilege, I do not take it lightly for it is a great responsibility. I take my voting decisions seriously, sometimes maybe a little too seriously and I analyze, reanalyze, and then analyze again until I overanalyze so much that I can’t think about it anymore.

Voting is so important but because of how hard it is to really know a candidate it makes it very difficult and I think that’s why so many people just plain don’t vote…or just vote based on whoever their friends/family vote for. Or sometimes we vote based on one or two important issues while ignoring the other important issues, which is better that not voting but this ends up in a somewhat half-hearted vote– “I guess I’ll vote for this guy…” instead of a very enthusiastic, “Yes, this is definitely who I want representing us.”

I admit that I am a conflicted voter. Clearly I believe voting is important, especially now more than ever. I have no doubt that another 4 years of the current president (and those like him in congress and elsewhere) will drag our country down even further and complete the transformation of “fundamentally changing” our country into something so completely different than her original form. But, I am not completely satisfied with the alternative selections.

This may or may not surprise some of you but I have grown to appreciate the political philosophy represented by Ron Paul. If I had to choose the candidate that has been the most consistent and the most committed to a limited government as is instructed in the constitution, he would be the most obvious choice. Redefining a limited central government and reinstituting state sovereignty would automatically bring a resolution to many of our other social and economic issues we are so overwhelmed by. Paul seems to understand what is needed to fix our current problems and get us healed. Everyone else only seems to try and cover up the symptoms while ignoring the root issues. The problem though is that realistically, he isn’t a viable candidate at this time. I know this way of thinking angers many of his supporters but if we’re going to be real, that’s the truth and even he knows it. We need Paul, but first we have to put a stop to the sledgehammer of “Change” slashing away at our America. Once the cause is removed, the healing can begin.

For the presidential campaign, that leaves Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum. Romney was a governor and a business man. Santorum was a congressman and is a husband and father. Both say they same thing. Santorum is the only one with a congressional voting record and Romney is the only one with real business experience. Romney was pro-choice but had a change of heart even though social issues are hardly even mentioned on his website while Santorum has not only always been “pro-life” but has taken on a strong leadership role in legislation that limits abortion and defends the rights of the unborn and their families. Romney’s weakness is his Massachusetts “Romeny-Care” which is similar to the “Obama Care” he has vowed to repeal. Santorum’s weakness is his “big spending” and “big government” record as a congressman. I am not a fan of several other pieces of legislation he has voted for in the fields of education and immigration for example but I greatly appreciate his courage on traditional family and pro-life/anti-abortion views. But his record of big spending concerns me and I am not convinced he would make enough drastic changes to bring down the “size” of the federal government and increase the powers of the states. Without a congressional voting record from Romney, we can’t say for sure what he would do with the insane debt ceiling or ratio of federal government to the state and local governments. His unwillingness to make any cuts to the Medicare/Medicaid or Social Security programs (the biggest chunks of our debt) makes me uncertain he will actually bring down our debt.  But, when you compare both of the candidates, I would choose either of them in a heartbeat over a vote for Obama and right now I’m not even sure I can make it to our state’s caucus to cast my vote between Santorum or Romeny.

Hence, a rambling conflicted voter. J

The problem is we all want this perfect candidate but if we waited for that figment of our idealism to transform into a real human I’m afraid many very imperfect and rather terrible candidates would take up that fantastical space while we waited. If there ever was such a perfect candidate, we would doubtless hear much about him or her as this would not be in the best interest of the media whose sole job is to create conflict and showcase people’s worst flaws and natural hypocritical tendencies.

If you turn on the news or try to get even somewhat involved in political elections, you will most likely be quickly dismayed and confused and depressed with all the name-calling and ego-boosting and he said/she said blah blah blahs. It’s easy to become apathetic and feel we, the real people, have no influence on legislators anymore compared to all the much more influential lobbying groups and organizations. It’s really no wonder so few people really get involved or pay attention anymore to all this political stuff. It’s sad and confusing and honestly there are so many other more important things in life to pay attention to or get involved with—like living our lives and all that entails. It’s hard enough keeping up with our own dramas and making our own decisions, who can really keep up with the ridiculous games of the political world? Besides, other people with more time and energy can deal with all that.

Believe you me, I understand this. After getting involved in and directing a highly-stressful legislative project for the past two years, I honestly would like nothing more than to just lay out in my hammock and read books to my children all day while thinking only about the worries and cares that come with being a mother and wife and turn my mind off completely to all that political stuff and just live my life.

This isn’t a terrible dream but here’s the rub: The decisions that those “other people” make in the “political” world are real and they end up affecting how I and my family get to live our lives. To me, it seems apparent that our freedoms and our personal rights are being attacked more intensely, especially parental/family rights and religious/conscientious rights. (This is one reason I got involved in that legislative project.)  However, the corruption that we see in the family and in our churches cannot be blamed on the legislature and it is certainly foolish thinking to believe we can legislate good behavior or change the hearts of a whole society simply by casting a vote. However, it’s also easy to think we will always have the freedom to parent our own children and live out our religious/conscientious beliefs in this “land of the free.” But we can’t take it for granted and as soon as we do, that’s when we lose.

So, the real question then is who is the one to reach out with enough courage and strength to remove our attackers so our wounds can be covered and our country nursed back to health? Voting is an important part of this, even if we have to be conflicted voters. But it doesn’t end there. The real answer is simple: We—we, the people. We are the ones who will restore this country by restoring our hearts, our families, and our communities and this will eventually result in restoring our government representatives, policy-makers and our country.

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