I Voted Today – 10-31-24

I voted this morning, the next to last day of early voting in Georgia. No line, no problems; I like it when duties are this easy to perform. I have voted in every Presidential election since 1972 (and lots of others as well). I was raised in a politically active family and would not be able to face my parents in the hereafter if I missed even one.

I have been a registered Republican that whole time. I worked my first campaign in 1964 (yes, I was much less than 18 in that year) in California. I worked in the local Republican Headquarters that first year, helping to make the ‘get-out-the-vote’ lists. In 68 and 72 I was one of the people going to Republican voters on election day, reminding them to get out and vote. Once I joined the Army later in 72, I left active political life behind.

Last Saturday, I was visited by a couple of Trump campaign workers who came to the house to remind me to vote. Now anyone that knows me, knows how little use I have for Trump as a candidate or a person. I was tempted to let these two know about my feelings, but I remembered making similar calls on people in 68 and 72. They were polite and non-political (beyond their Trump and MAGA buttons), so I responded with the same level of civility and assured them that I was voting early.

Please, let us all try to return civility to political discourse. Yelling and screaming has never changed anyone’s mind. It just encourages yelling and screaming in return.