You Can't Sit At The Cool Table

So today I posted this status on my Facebook wall:

"Just to put it out there...I don't think I've ever seen a broke Republican. Just saying.

After seeing some comments questioning if I had ever been to Texas or Kentucky, my old friend Will Luse posted this:

"I've seen broke Republican 'supporters' but not broke Republicans."

This made a whole lot of sense. Republican voters in these poor southern states vote for the VALUES over the policies. They're pro life, anti gay marriage, and pro death penalty- just like the majority of these southerners. But the difference is that these Republican figureheads have money- and lots of it. Mike Huckabee, Rush Limbaugh, John McCain, Mitt Romney...the list goes on. Many southern voters are poorer people who visualize having these lifestyles- a well kept Christian family with wholesome values.

I already know I'm going to catch a little flak for what I'm about to say- those voters were wrong.

Many members of the Republican Party are affluent- as a matter of fact, most of the wealthy people in this country are Republicans. But many Republican supporters live in the poorest parts of the country. Republican candidates merely have to spout some buzzwords about "pro life" and "NRA" and these people go crazy. What they don't realize is that they're being kept from prosperity by those very people who earn their votes. It's like when the high school jock asks the losers to vote for him, but the losers will never get a spot at the cool lunch table in return for their votes.

Every voter has a right to their opinion, and far be it from me to blame someone for voting for a candidate who seems to protect what the voter holds near and dear to their heart. We are democracy for a reason. However, both parties have wholesome candidates and a few errant screws, and it seems like a pretty uninformed decision to vote for a guy just because you like the cut of his family. As the 2012 election looms nearer with each passing day, I'd like to invite every one of my readers to be informed during the election. Read your newspapers, scour the internet, and do your research. If you're the CEO of a trillion dollar company and need to hire a general manager, you would do your research on those candidates- why not the ones who are in line to run our country for the next four years?

I like Barack Obama, but I'm not going to go out and vote for him because he has a great family.

I'm voting for him because he's black. Duh.