I miss the days when the left and the right disagreed but could still talk. I miss the days when we voted for our Represenitive based on actions, not personality. Today we are so busy “proving” the other side is wrong we don’t even take time to learn what any of them has done.

Instead we throw terms like racist, socialist, bigot, xenophobia, unamerican around so much they have no real meaning anymore. We argue to defend ourselves from attacks against people that do not even know us, or attack people we have never met.

I do not care your political affiliation or who you end up voting for. I only, in the strongest sense, urge you to research what both of these men have DONE. Not some speech, or 5 second soundbite, or fluff opinion piece. Research what policies they’ve supported and their effects

Read both sides of the biased media. Talk to people that disagree with you. Really talk, understand why. Stop using personal attacks to discredit those that you think are wrong. Educate yourself to defend your view with real data and be open to data that does not prove you right.

These are all the things you should be doing before you cast a vote. To do less and/or vote purely based on emotion or party affiliation is to weaken the power of our voice. We hand over the power granted to us to those that will most likely misuse it.