“I was planning on voting, but I can’t bring myself to vote for either candidate.”
“Whatever is the matter? We have fought long and hard to earn the right to have a say in how things are run. How can you give up now?”
“It’s their hats, my dear. A true candidate should be adorned in the best of millinery fashion, with fine plumage and decorations. Instead, they wear the drabbest of headwear. How can we trust any leader who refuses to appear their best?”
“You have an excellent point. However, a vote must be made. We can protest their lack of good taste by adorning ourselves in our finest hats as we head to the polls.”
“I suppose, in the spirit of democracy and good fashion sense, that is what we must do.”
I think I speak for many by saying we’re exhausted by this political season. We are like marathoners who took a few wrong turns and ran for an extra ten miles, and only now are dragging ourselves across the finish line. However, we need to be like Abbey D’Agostino of the US and Nikki Hamblin of New Zealand in the 5000m Semifinal at the 2016 Olympics. Hamblin collided into D’Agostino and D’Agostino got up and made sure Hamblin stood up too. They made sure they both made it to the finish line, despite D’Agostino needing immediate medical attention at the end.
If D’Agostino can finish the last mile of her race on an injured knee, we can make it the final mile to the voting booth.
And one more thing we can learn from these two athletes: When we’ve finished our voting and step out of the booth, let’s be nice to each other. Let’s not be angry about someone we don’t like winning, but instead come together as a community to solve the problems which matter to us. Just because we have different views, doesn’t mean we can’t be friends.
Many in the history of the United States have made sacrifices and fought political battles so we can have the right to have a say in our Democracy today (here’s for a quick history of voting rights). This is a superpower which has been passed down for generations, each generation expanding who gets the right to vote. Even if almost anyone can do it, it’s still powerful.
We, the American People, are the ultimate version of The Avengers and the Justice League. Individually, we have different beliefs and solutions for the problems we see. Together, we can come to a consensus and work to build a better tomorrow.
So, if you haven’t done so already, go out there and vote. Read your voter’s guide from your local region. Decide where you stand and vote with integrity.
If it helps, put on a fancy hat or a superhero cape and go out there and vote.
*Also, please remember to get your sticker, because stickers, like bow ties, are cool.
Side Note 1: For myself, I find myself pumped up by this number from Mary Poppins:
Side Note 2: Also, thanks to Canada for reminding us in the United States the good we’ve done and, hopefully, inspiring us to do more good.
The L. Palmer Chronicles 
Get out and VOTE and use your SUPER POWER!!!!!
Ha! This is cool. Didn’t know about the Canadian video, but we Canadians feel this way.
I’m glad you can back the video up. I really appreciated the video because a lot of the election coverage around here’s been gloomy and it was nice to be reminded of the good we can do, regardless of who’s in charge of the government.
I think in its overwhelming energy, the U.S. comes off as arrogant globally. On the other hand, though, it also forgets its true greatness: innovation, creativity, higher education, and an experiment never before seen on earth. Ya’ll need to be reminded of your greatness not so that you can gloat in it but so you can aspire to what is already in your grasp, and share that with all.
I couldn’t agree more. Our country made it through Watergate and Bush vs. Gore. We’ll make it through this, too.
I didn’t get a sticker or a pin. 😦
Also, I believe the founding fathers kind of knew what they were doing in this case. 4 years minimum, 8 years maximum.
Unless this turns out like ROTS where he stays in power “far longer than he should”…
I’m disappointed you didn’t get a sticker. I also believe strongly in the US Constitution and the checks and balances which limit power, which is good no matter who is president.
Although let’s remember the 8 year term limit for Presidents was not part of the Founding Fathers’ design, but grew up as a tradition after Washington only served 2 terms. It was only in 1951 that the 2 term limit became Constitutional through the 22nd Amendment.
There’s a legitimate argument that the 22nd Amendment was conceived as a partisan move, by a GOP-controlled Congress tired of Democratic Presidents, particularly FDR’s success in being elected four times. Still, even if it was, the Republicans of that era were fair enough to allow that the 22nd Amendment would not apply to the current President, even though he was Democrat Harry Truman. And the measure proved quite popular, being approved by 3/4 of the states in just under 4 years, so it ultimately was endorsed by what was really a bipartisan supermajority.
Thanks for sharing this historical overview.
The pity is that, once again, voter turn-out was down. Say what you want about the results, but the fact that so few people voted is a shame. I wish more people had payed attention to the likes of what you said here!
Yeah. It looks like 50% of eligible voters didn’t even go to the polls, which is huge in an election where the difference between candidates was only a few percentage points.