I learned a very important lesson on Election Day 2012 when I entered the voting booth at 3:15 PM. I was totally undecided...not independent like many other voters...just decidedly undecided. I am, and have been for most of my voter life, a card-carrying Republican. I can tell you that I voted for Nixon and Reagan. I did not vote for Ford or George W. I will generally vote for moderate Republicans who are fiscal conservatives but I will also vote for moderate Democrats who are fiscal conservatives. I have voted in every election since 1968 and have managed to select the winner in every case except for Bush the Elder and Al Gore. There was something about both those elections that skewed my judgement. I was afraid I would repeat that error in this election. In fact, I even considered not voting--at least not for the presidential slot. I also had to select a Senator and some state officials, so I had other motives to get myself to the polling station and have my vote counted. I was going to leave the Obama vs Romney ballot unchecked until an image came into my mind at the last second.
Anyone familiar with the Rocky movies starring Sylvester Stallone will understand what I mean when I say the opposition managed to turn Obama into the underdog. That's allowed in American politics. But once they achieved that, they continued to beat him up mercilessly. And, in some corner of the American psyche, beating up the underdog is just plain wrong. Ask yourself: would John Wayne have ever stooped that low? I don't think so! So, with that image in mind, I found my index finger slowly and almost reluctantly heading for the Obama checkbox. I touched the button. The check mark appeared beside Barack Obama and almost instantaneously I pressed the large "Cast Vote" button which confirmed my vote. The deed was done--for better or worse.
This time I had found a hidden value in the American psyche. We respect the underdog. Maybe that is because whether our ancestors came here on the Mayflower or on a makeshift raft, we can all identify with the underdog. Those who cannot find hidden value in the underdog may have lost an important facet of their American identity.
Pick 102 - Generation Alpha
Screen technologies are the base of everything that characterizes Generation Alpha and truly distinguishes them from every other generati...
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