Election Thoughts

So I have kept relatively quiet about the historic election we had, mainly because I have found that I don't like having an uneducated conversation about politics, usually I am the one lacking education. This year was different for me, I listened to all sides of the arguments, and in the end found both candidates for President unfavorable in many ways, but appealing in quite a few. I can't help but wonder why more emphasis isn't put on the primary elections as the thought I had was, How can these two be the most qualified people willing to run for President of the United States of America? I ended up casting a vote for McCain/Palin mainly on the hope that Palin could bring a voice to Washington DC, the "average" voice. I am glad with the results, I hope that Obama figures a way to let the country turn around, I say let because I believe that the economy needs to cycle and this just happens to be a lower dip than the last couple, perhaps more greed was garnered this upswing. I also hope that nothing happens to him, as much as I like Palin, I dislike Biden. Here's to the Democratic government following through and putting a ton of money into infrastructure, the engineering world could use a boost from the bottom.

One more thought that I have is how one person can make a difference, many times I have heard "I'm not voting, my vote doesn't really count" This election I learned that one vote may not mean much in the 128 million votes cast but one voter can influence many. I went from an uneducated, can't stand anything the Democratic candidates are promising, to almost giving my vote to Obama, this is mainly thanks to some great posts by my cousin Brian and a couple friends at work. One other example is the huge battle in California over the Proposition 8. As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints I am glad that it was passed, watching the rallies being held the last couple of days saddens me especially when I saw this picture today:

I know several people that either battle with homosexuality or live the homosexual lifestyle, they are aware of how I treat them and hopefully appreciate that I try and treat them as equal. I am amazed at how the gays and lesbians are turning this into a war against a religion. I do not feel that this was bought by anyone, amazingly the opposition raised over $37 million versus $35 million for it. I think that amount of money to be raised is amazing, I thought we were in economic trials? I feel close to this though because I was surprised when the church was going to ask for help in making phone calls to support the proposition, many people I know were willing to sacrifice time to do so, but plans were scrapped because Californians stepped up and made calls themselves. Many of my gay friends pride themselves on being different, my novel idea is why don't they set up something and then try and tell us "married" people how much better their lives are. I hope that something gets peacefully resolved and sooner the better.