Pigeons for Mfume: Vote or Don't

Tomorrow is election day. The Democrats (I am one) need at least fifteen seats for control of the House and six seats for control of the Senate.

You have the right to vote. Whether you do or not is nobody's business. Exercise your right to vote, to bear arms (but not in public and not concealed on your person), to drink, to smoke (wherever that's still legal), to have an abortion, to assemble peacefully, to burn the flag, to criticize the government. Or don't. The thing about the right is you can't, and shouldn't, keep others from doing it or force them to do it, and you don't have to participate in it yourself.

Look, I'll be perfectly honest; I think the Republicans should stay home tomorrow. I do not encourage Republicans to vote. If they stay home, those fifteen and six seats are won for sure.

By the same token, I recognize that many of the get-out-the-vote campaigns deliberately target people who are poor and, often, uninformed (though this isn't to say all poor people are uninformed; some simply lack transportation), who would likely vote Democrat; Democrats are more likely to keep the social problems on which many of our nation's poor rely.

Social programs are a good thing, but they are not the only thing.

I want my candidates to win by an informed electorate, who has decided that a particular candidate suits not only his needs but the needs of his neighbors, the needs of the country. I want voters to be able to tell me they voted for Ben Cardin because they think the Patriot Act should be expanded, or they voted for Michael Steele because it's about time we sent a black Republican to Washington. After all, black Republicans are an under-represented lot, and it makes sense to vote for the man for that reason, if no other.

My parents are Republicans. They will vote for everyone who will not receive my vote. I understand why they vote the way they do, and I often respect their choices. I hope they respect mine.

But the choices I don't respect are the ones made solely out of ignorance or obligation or selfishness.

It's really not too much to ask: that voters find out something about the people running in tomorrow's election—and not just those candidates who will get our votes, but also the ones who won't.


* * * *

P.S. In case you forgot, you have the right to vote, and you have the right for your vote to be counted!