VOTE: It's American

You are what you eat.  It's often heard from the dusty corners of your mind while reluctantly reaching for a Krispy Kreme.  But this election season, I propose a new rendition to the old adage:

You are how you vote.
This is bad news for the Proposition 19 stoners---I mean supporters out there.  Yes, the revolutionary measure will most likely fail, not due to the morality of marijuana or the poor structure of the prop, but because we're too high to make it to the ballot box.

But this isn't just a trend for tokers.  A lot can be said about a person by looking not necessary at who they vote for, but how they do it. 

Take my 93-year-old Grandmother's retirement community for example: the day the sample ballots arrive in the mail room, a frenzy erupts.  The next few weeks are similar to cramming for finals; each initiative dissected, each candidate thoroughly scrutinized.  But for them, it's all part of the process.  It's democracy in action.

Then there are those, like my Baby Boomer parents, who know the importance of voting but are too busy with real life to follow every swing of the election.  This often ends up with last minute skimming of literature or simply following your political party's orders.

And then there's us, the college students, who shreik away from petitioners that claw for our attention.  We're the untainted power each party is grasping for, and more often than not, we're too busy with our iPhones to notice.

Perhaps the voting tendencies are generational or closely tied to each stage of life.  But what about those, like the patriotic Meg Whitman, who don't seem to make it to the ballot box ever?  According to the United States Elections Project, national voter turnout rates have hovered between 50 and 60 percent since 1960.  A large chunk of eligible Americans just don't vote.

Why?

Well, they're not all stoned. 

Many non-voters feel that their unused ballot wouldn't count in the grand scheme of things.  So, you're just one of the 231,229,580 eligible American voters.  Sitting this one out won't matter.  Others disapprove of the government altogether and chose not to participate.  I don't know how a thought process could get anymore illogical, but it happens...

Anyhow, variations of attitudes like these lead to 40 percent of U.S. citizens warming the bench as the rest battle it out on the field.  The political war is gruesome, hostile and people like Glenn Beck get followers.  Not to place all the blame on the Right; Lefties have their fair share of secret skeletons.  But when there are nearly as much benchwarmers as there are players in the game of democracy, the result falls dramatically short of what the Founding Fathers intended.

So if your voting style reflects on upon you personally, than what does lack of voting say about non-voters?

This may seem brash, but I say not voting is plain un-American.  This country was not found on capitalism nor progressive slants.  The premise of America is democracy.  A government for the people, by the people (not by a slight majority of the people).

This election year, I encourage you to be patriotic.  Go out and vote for propositions and people you believe would benefit society.  If you don't, I'm sure we could find you some space on the bench, but the game won't be the same without you.

And if you're a Prop 19 supporter, wait until after you cast your vote to celebrate.