by Roger Hatcher Your Vote Counts November 7!!!
New Mexico has been targeted as one of the critical states in the 2000 Presidential election and may very well be the factor in determining the next President. I think it is imperative that every eligible voter get out to vote.
Freedom has never been free; there has always been a cost. Uncountable lives have been lost and rivers of blood has been shed to give us this right and this obligation. We owe it to those who paid the ultimate price and as an example for our children to take the time to vote.
We are suffering from apathy about politics and issues and it has allowed our country to become what it is today. Problems with crime, welfare, Medicare, social security, education, and the immorality that plagues our nation is the result of the majority of the citizen’s failure to vote. Your opinion and vote is vital to making our county, state, and nation a society ruled by the majority. But we have allowed the vocal minority to dictate what public opinion should be instead of what it really is.
As I watched the Presidential debate, I wanted to blame the government for our situation, but I realized that we are a product of our own making. Politicians cater to what they believe the citizens want. They tailor their campaigns to address the issues that are getting the most publicity and most of the time work toward those issues. However, all candidates (including Sheriffs) have their own agenda--something that they want to accomplish during their time in office. These are as individual as the candidates themselves and are based on personal experiences and desires. They may or may not be the issues they campaigned on, but they will definitely be the issues they push.
When we are silent at the polls, our opinions are not heard. The squeaky wheel gets the grease, and that's when the candidates will listen. Our forefathers took a giant leap in establishing a government unlike any before and counted on the generations that followed to maintain the integrity of our system. They also fashioned our laws on godly principals and morals, knowing that faith in God was above everything else. And, in an effort to continue in his will, each session of Congress is preceded with prayer. How is it then that we can no longer pray at school functions?
I believe we can return to a moral society if we will elect representatives who support strong moral values. This is a critical time in America’s history and the outcome of this election year could very well spiral us into a pit of destruction or start us toward the return of a true democracy and Godly society.
As a Christian and an American I will not support candidates who seek humanitarian approval and ignore God’s. But this is my conviction; you must decide yours. As a nation, together we the people must decide which direction we want to go and choose a leader to pull us in that direction.
We each have our own special interest and either one candidate or the other and maybe even both may fill a part or all of that interest, but without our participation the system will not work. For now it is still a government of the People, by the People, and for the People. Please go vote November 7!
Roger Hatcher is the Sheriff of Curry County, New Mexico.
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