Headline: IF YOU DON'T VOTE, YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO COMPLAIN
Reporter: By Gregory Freeman

Publication: ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Last Printed:  Tue., Nov. 7, 2000
Section: METRO, Page: B1, Edition: FIVE STAR LIFT

A civic duty
  
A word to the wise: If you don't vote today because you don't see a difference between the candidates, do me a favor and don't bother me with your opinions. I'm not interested in them.
  
Sound harsh? Not really.
   Not a day goes by that I don't get letters, e-mail and phone calls from people with views on issues as diverse as drug laws, abortion, affirmative action, civil rights, HMOs, you name it. Some want the government to help in some way; others want the government out of their lives. The opinions, often, are strong ones. If opinions were money, I'd be a rich man.
   But traditionally, it seems, when it comes to going to the ballot, many people lose their motivation. Four years ago, less than half of the eligible voting population bothered to show up at the polls. Perhaps we can assume that everyone else was happy with the way things were.
  
Yet even the contented have a motivation to vote. If you're pleased with the way things are going, they could change tomorrow if you don't vote. If you gripe after that point, you have only yourself to blame.

I can happily say that I have voted in every presidential election since I was first eligible to vote. While all of the candidates I voted for didn't win, I still had the satisfaction of knowing that my voice was heard. I consider myself fortunate to live in a country where I do get a say in where my government is going. Everyone in the world isn't as lucky.
  
As an African-American, I feel a special obligation to get to the polls. People fought and many died because of their efforts to make sure that blacks had the right to vote. And that was less than 40 years ago. In my view, their efforts were in vain when blacks don't get out and vote. Every black voter who stays home makes a mockery of all that those civil rights pioneers fought for.

When I hear people say they're not voting for either Al Gore or George W. Bush -- or voting for Mickey Mouse or someone who stands as much a chance as the Disney rodent of being elected -- because they say there's no difference between the two chief contenders for president, I find myself chuckling.
  
That's like saying there's no difference between a Yugo and a Cadillac. Perhaps in some years, the candidates have been similar, but unless you've been under a rock, you know by now that the differences between Bush and Gore are significant. And I mean what they stand for, not their personalities.
  
I don't need to rehash here the differences between the candidates. Those have been articulated in countless places, including this newspaper. Suffice to say that the differences are great. If you haven't yet educated yourself on the candidates -- not just for president but other offices and propositions as well -- you really should do so before the polls close tonight.

Many of this year's elections are close. Voting turnout will likely make the difference in more than one race.
   And the next time you think that one vote doesn't count, think about former St. Louis County Executive Gene McNary. McNary sought the Republican nomination for Congress from the 2nd District. Out of some 47,000 voters, he lost the primary to state Rep. Todd Akin by 77 votes. If only 78 people who stayed home or didn't bother to vote had gone to the polls that day, he would have won.

I'm from St. Louis, not Chicago, the hometown of my colleague, Bill McClellan.
   Chicago is where the phrase "Vote early and often" originated. But I hope folks get out and vote today. In fact, do it early and then call a dozen friends and make sure they get out, too.
  
Our votes really do count.

But if you don't vote, you can compare yourself to a poor, unemployed man who refuses to take a job, even when several are offered to him. When things go wrong, you'll really have no one to blame but yourself.


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