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Groucho
Marx said, “Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere,
diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedies.” That pretty
much summarizes what’s been taking place in our country for the last eight
years. As a result, we have a country that is literally “running on
empty.”
The
high cost of gas (which for the moment seems to be dropping a little),
groceries, housing, health insurance (if you can afford it), healthcare …
EVERYTHING! … has been a reality for most Americans for quite a while.
How can we trust the very people who have created this volatile economic crisis
to also fix it?
Electing
Barack Obama as President of the United States is the first step
toward correcting this downward spiral. Our country is way off-track, but
being able to change course, to correct this free fall, is one of the great
beauties of living in a democracy. Barack Obama’s sound economic
strategy, to rebuild our middle class by building our future on policies that
help repair our sagging infrastructure and make us energy independent, mirrors
the very sound political action that brought us out of the Great
Depression.
But
he will need the help of U.S.
Senators and Congressmen to formulate the policy to get us back on our feet. We
will need representatives in Washington who
will make sure that the people of North
Carolina benefit as we rebuild our country with
living wage jobs that are created to shore up our deteriorating economy while
improving and protecting our environment. Kay Hagan and Roy Carter will
do just that.
We
need a Governor who protects the rights of older citizens and acknowledges that
providing the best public education possible for our children and bringing
businesses to North Carolina
that concentrate on alternative energy will be the investment that will sustain
our future. Beverly Perdue will do just that.
We
need every member of our Council of State working together to insure fiscal
accountability, to maintain our legal systems, to protect those among us who
are most vulnerable, to champion education, to grow and regulate our industry
fairly, and to protect the health and welfare of every citizen in North Carolina.
Walter Dalton, Elaine Marshall, Roy Cooper, June Atkinson, Mary Fant Donnan,
Wayne Goodman, Ronnie Ansley, Beth Wood, and Janet Cowell will do just that.
We
need full-time workers in Raleigh who will
continue to look out for the folks here in Watauga County.
We need to keep our taxes as low as possible and to continue to insist that our
state operates with a balanced budget. Education will be the single
biggest factor in being able to provide a work force that will be able to grow
our economy. We need representatives in Raleigh who will not only insist on the
highest standards for our school curriculums, but also help provide funding to
build and maintain schools that will efficiently educate our future
generations. Steve Goss and Cullie Tarleton will do just that.
You
don’t have to wait until November 4 to vote. Starting October 16, three Early
Voting sites opened in Boone. The Board of Elections Office and the Agricultural Conference Center
have served as Early Voting sites for the last few years, but a site has also
been opened in the Boone Town Council Chambers in the municipal building on Blowing Rock Road.
These sites are open from 8:00 am – 5:00 pm, Monday through Friday and will
also be open on Saturday, November 1 from 8:00 am – 1:00 pm. New Early
Voting sites will be operating on the same Monday through Saturday schedule
listed above in The Multicultural Room in the Student Union on the ASU campus
beginning October 20 and at the Mountain Ruritan Club in Sugar Grove beginning
October 25.
In
addition to all these voting opportunities, if you missed the October 10
deadline to register to vote on November 4, using a new option enacted in North Carolina you can
register and vote on the same day during early voting. There really is
“No Excuse”!
Never
before have the people in Watauga
County had so many voting
opportunities and locations to choose from and never before have the stakes
been as high as the election of 2008! We have added 7,000 individuals to
the ranks of registered voters in Watauga
County. But
registering to vote is just the first step. It is the responsibility of every
citizen, in every county, in every state to go the polls and cast his or her
ballot. We want, we need, we deserve representatives who will work for us
in Watauga County,
in Raleigh and in Washington. Our voices will only be
heard if we have representatives who are willing to listen.
My
grandparents were sharecroppers; they never owned their own home. My mom
and dad worked hard and made sacrifices to be able to send my brother, my
sister, and me to college and to help us as we started out. We too have
worked hard, have successful lives, have raised families, and have been able to
give our children a leg up in the world. Does the American Dream end with
this generation?
I
see this election as the beginning of our climb out of a deep valley of debt
created by an administration that led us into an unjustified war and sold our
middle-class families to the highest-bidding mortgage company. We can’t
afford to prolong an administration that avoids taking responsibility for
millions of Americans. It is our responsibility to begin the
reinstatement of the American Dream by voting for Democrats in 2008.
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