I voted for Mike Lee in the U.S. Senate race and Jon Hellander in the Utah House District 53 race. You don't have to vote for the same people I did.
But PLEASE go vote for your candidates.
When we were finished logging our electronic ballots, the poll worker handed us a circular sticker with the words "I VOTED."
I wasn't prepared for the wave of emotion that swept over me. I thought of newly-enfranchised voters in third-world countries who routinely are showing up in massive numbers now to exercise a basic right long denied to them.
I am proud of my American heritage that gives me the right to vote without threat of reprisal. I didn't realize it was so deeply etched into my soul.
I pray we never lose that precious gift of freedom.
The polls are open until 8:00 p.m. tonight. Don't miss the opportunity to feel that rush of American joy.
I got choked up when I read this post and I now have goosebumps. There must be something to this "freedom" thing, I guess :-)
ReplyDeleteGreat post, David, that I found quite by accident, since I'm a realtively novice blogger. However, now who will run against Hatch in 2012? I thought both candidates this round had solid selling points and was leaning for Tim now and Mike against Hatch later. Orrin also has to go and the momentum to clean out Washington must hold through that election.
ReplyDeleteI've had recent very disappointing interaction with both Bennett and Hatch and find them so entrenched in the ebb and flow of Washington that they have become ineffective.
I'm supporting the 'new breed' all across America as I find them.
I think there are three logical possibilities who might emerge to run against Hatch (and I agree with your assessment). They are Mark Shurtleff, Tim Bridgewater and Jason Chaffetz. We'll see, but Orrin received a very cool reception at the state convention. Let's hope he takes a page from Bob Bennett's playbook and bows out gracefully, but I don't think it will happen -- he wants the longevity record for consecutive terms held by Strom Thurmond. What a terrible reason to seek his SEVENTH term (yes, that would be 42 years as a Senator). Orrin will be 78 years old on election day 2012, making him 84 years old at the end of his next term if re-elected!!! I love older folks, but that reason alone should disqualify him. I don't look for him to step aside on his own -- I fear he'll have to be tossed unceremoniously like Bennett. Hatch lives in Virginia (has for MANY years), and is about as closely identified with Utah as the Washington Monument. I don't know what it is, but the longer they've been there the more indispensible they think they are, which of course is simply untrue. It's time to cultivate new leadership in Utah to send back to Washington. A Senate seat is NOT a perpetual entitlement until death!
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