Voting....

It's election time.  I finally received my ballot. I had been anxiously awaiting it's arrival, so you can imagine my glee when I opened my mailbox and there it sat, in all it's glory. All elections are important, but this is the biggie!  Like the Olympics, it only comes around every four years.  (Well, that was until they changed the Olympics - but - thats for another blog) Anywho - The big decision on everyones mind: Which man is the right man to lead our country?  There's been a lot of discussion on who to vote for, which issues carry weight, who would be a better president, etc. Social media sites are full of all sorts of comments. A gamut of thoughts including, but not limited to, if you vote for one candidate, you're signing our country up for the dark ages or socialism or [fill in your favorite horrible circumstance].
My favorite are the posts are ones that insinuate that if you vote for a certain candidate your Christianity is highly suspect. I have had an extremely difficult time not responding to these posts.  The "jerk" in me wants to goad them into a facebook "debate" - letting them know their posts are not only incongruous, but some of their information is unsubstantiated.  However, it's not worth the argument nor will it do anything more than fire me up.  And, in all honesty, neither their vote nor mine would change.  Debates like that aren't what I base my choices on anyway.
My vote is decided on a myriad of issues, not just one or two.  I rely on what I feel the candidate will bring to the table that will be good for ALL people in our country.  How will their ideas, politics and policies effect the entire population.  As a nurse, I look at their stance on health care.  As a woman, I look at their political track record when it comes to women's issues. As a concerned global citizen, I look at foreign policy.  And, yes, as a Christian, I look at their current and past stance on a variety of issues, not just abortion and same sex marriage.  And here's the other thing, even though I am proud registered democrat (gasp! shocking!), I don't vote for a candidate based on the -D or -R after their name.  (Here's a quick side note - not all Christians are Republican nor are all Republicans- Christians... just sayin') You may choose to vote differently than me. That's ok.  That's one of the many awesome things about being a citizen of this great country - we have the freedom to vote for who we see fit and not have to justify our choice. Isn't that great?
And for those of you wondering (or not, but this is my blog so I can write what I want) I made my decision for which presidential candidate gets my vote... And if you know me at all, you already know who...Yep. I'm voting to re-elect President Obama. 
Proceed questioning my Chritianity or giving me a high five.  I'm good with both.