Voting is a Privilege

Today is Election Day and this morning I'm proud to say I voted!

I've been seeing a lot of GOTV (Get Out The Vote) articles, facebook statuses, tweets, etc.  This is great!  I hope everyone does vote in this election.  But one misconception I keep on seeing is that voting is a right.  Actually voting is a privilege.

By definition a right is something that can not be lost or taken away.  It is inherent.  A privilege is something that can be revoked due to special circumstances.  It is conditional.  There are few simple rules that you must follow to vote in the United States:

1. You must be an United States citizen.
2. You must be 18 years old.
3. You must register to vote by the specified deadline.
4. You must not be a felon as stated by your state's felon voting laws.

Warning - the rest of this might get a little "random"...

Our founding fathers decided on these rules and this system of voting as one way of "checks and balances."  Our troops over the years have fought for us to keep this freedom of choice.  Having choices is what makes the United States unique and special.

So maybe in summary, I should just wrap up by saying - go out and vote!  Vote for those that will allow you to keep your freedom of choice and not limit or reduce your ability to choose.

And one quick side note, as a resident of the first in the nation state which is also a swing state - I'm so excited for no more political ads, phone calls, mail, etc. after tonight!  I'm looking forward to seeing election coverage tonight and hope that tomorrow when the results are finalized, that everyone can work together.  That is the only way we will make progress.

Iowa Caucuses

I have always been proud to say that I have voted in every major election and participated in every presidential caucus since I was eighteen and tonight was no different.  Iowans have a unique opportunity to participate in the first in the nation caucuses and tonight there was a new record of voters that turned out.  The caucuses bring a lot to Iowa - being able to shake hands and hear from presidential candidates in your local communities, national media highlighting the state, and lots of political advertising over the TV, radio and phone.  Some of these aspects of having the caucuses Iowans like, and some we can't wait for the day after the caucuses so they end...

I'll be talking about the national media in the state a little later this week.  Until then, here is a video that has just started circulating in Iowa titled Iowa Nice.  I guess you could say this video was created to educate all of the visitors that filtrate Iowa during the caucuses.  Warning, there is some adult language in the video.  Iowa Nice You Tube video