Well it is time to vote again and I have put a tremendous amount of research into each candidate, I’m just that kinda guy. I also try to understand each bond issue or each ballot measure as well as any informed citizen should be. I feel as though it is my civic duty. Throughout my research I feel like I become closer to my candidates as I like to know my candidates as intimately as possible without going to jail.
I have a certain criterion I follow when picking a candidate and each candidate must not only meet that criteria, but if they are somewhat imperfect they will need to exceed the criteria measurements that I have outlined for them. I will do the best I can to share with you my selection process so you will want to take notes as you read through this highly important blog.
The candidate that I select must stand for change, they must stand for change with every corpuscle of their body in order for me to even consider them. The change they seek must be significant and impactful to all of their constituents and they must be committed to change in every aspect of their life.
My candidate must be for the working folks, like me. They must share the values of the common people. They must have a vision for prosperity for all people and they must have a visionary platform of excellence unmatched by all the other candidates. This is a point where I am unwavering on my standards and I leave no room for candidates without vision. Vision is important to me.
My candidate believes in hope and not just your run of the mill hopes but massive hope, hope that will hopefully turn into reality and dreams. They must have hope for all Americans and all people across the world because their hope is that broad, their hope is so massive that it cannot be contained by any obscure national border. Probably the most important part of the hope criteria is that. The candidate themselves must have hope because I will not vote for a hopeless candidate.
My candidate must have had a father, mother, grandfather or grandmother that provided them with dinner table wisdom like “keep your nose to the grindstone” and “roll up your sleeves” and “any job worth doing is worth doing right”, and “every journey begins with the first step” and my favorite of all is… “don’t throw out the baby with the bath water”. I’ve envisioned that very act many times as I have watched candidates’ debate and the image is gruesome! Any politician that would toss a beautiful, helpless, cuddly little bundle of joy out with the dirty bath water will never ever get my vote. This is true a deal breaker for me.
My Candidate must believe in a better tomorrow. Based off the day I have had today and yesterday…you better be serious about this, that is, if you want to be my candidate! I don’t play around with this one either. If you don’t believe in a better tomorrow then I have no place for you on my sample ballot. I will have nothing to do with a candidate that believes that yesterday was a great day and can’t be topped. This kind of attitude has no place in my heart.
My candidate must be somewhat of a germaphobe because they will emphatically express their desire to clean up things when they get into office. It is important to me that everyone has tidy work spaces, even if you do work from home. Cleaning things up for yourself and others is extremely important to me, but I have to be honest here and say that this one is really not a deal breaker for me. I can handle a little dirt here and there but you have to at least be able to notice and express a desire to correct it.
I realize as I write this that I have very high standards for my political candidates. I believe that it is reflective of my own personal standards. Let’s recap;
· Change
· Hope
· Optimism
· Prosperity
· Standards
· Articulate
· Wisdom
I’ve tried to arrange my personal criteria into something that you can quickly and phonetically refer too and I have brilliantly landed on this catchy little acronym…CHOPSAW.
When you go to pull the lever at the voting booth (no one pulls a lever anymore, I know that, but I am rolling up my sleeves and keeping my nose to the grindstone as I help you begin this electoral process with your first step. If that bothers you, I can change from pulling the lever to…slide the card into the slot and continue to punch the target until the card spits back out of the slot. I’m sorry, that just sounds dirty, erotic and kinda cool so I will return to “pull the damn lever”.
Anyway, try and remember CHOPSAW because in my humble opinion, you are gonna need a CHOPSAW to cut through all the B.S. that these slick candidates on both sides of the aisle try to dump on you.
Happy voting my friends!