Many people listened to Congressman Eric Massa ramble through a long string of incoherent statements about his resignation from the US Congress this week. Statements contradicted, sentences did not make sense, accusations flew without support. It was painfully obvious that he must have been elected two years ago by having great commercials and good fundraising, not by talking to people. It is the difficulty that American’s face each election year, how do you know the people that you are electing and will their personal actions embarrass their district after the election?
Voting is important. Our freedom is based on the involvement of people in their government. If this nation will remain by the people and for the people, the people must be involved. In Iraq last weekend, more than thirty people were killed during their election. Millions of Iraqi people put their lives on the line to vote. Our nation has been voting for more than two centuries, most of the time in great peace. But, the issue for us is beyond “if we will vote” to “how will we choose who to vote for?”
How do you choose a candidate? What is your criteria? Does character matter? Should you do more research on the people you vote for? How do you support the candidates that you actually know? For the thousands of people in New York’s 29th Congressional District who voted two years ago for Eric Massa, I am sure that question is spinning in their head today.
