Election soapbox

A Message from a member of the so-called non-voting age group in the United States

(sigh) Ok, so I'm driving down Airport Blvd this morning after dropping off brochures for some exhibitions that are opening soon at one of my local museums when suddenly I see 10 or 12 people standing around on the medians waving "Vote McCain" signs!

I usually wouldn't rant about something like this, but here I go! First of all, it's dangerous to have people waving signs anywhere on Airport Blvd. Natives of Mobile know how crazy drivers can get on Airport Blvd. With drivers going over or under the speed limit and the millions of stoplights on the street, people waving signs in the middle of the street aren't the best idea....talk about a distraction in the worse way because even I kept glancing over to read the signs.

Second, why McCain?! I'm not going to rant against either party in this post, but I would have rather seen signs telling people to register to vote than one party promoting itself.

So my soapbox message of the day is: Keep your party signs away from the main streets of Mobile just for the sheer fact that they are a bad distraction. I'd rather not get in an accident because the person in front of me is slowing down to read the signs and I wasn't paying attention either!!!

Secondly, please, please register to vote. I don't care who you vote for in this election or any of your state/city elections. Just get out there and register. It doesn't cost a thing to register!! There are plenty of places to register to vote in Mobile such as the local library branches, the Democratic headquarters on Dauphin Street and the Republican headquarters on Airport Blvd.

If you need more information about requirements to vote:
http://www.sos.state.al.us/Elections/VoterRegistrationInfo.aspx

Deadlines and applications are available through Rock the Vote :)
http://www.rockthevote.com/home.html

And to disprove one myth about registering to vote: Registering to vote DOES NOT mean that you are automatically in your state's system as eligible to serve on jury duty. That is determined by your state driver's license or any other state identification card. They told me that at jury duty on the first day!!!

SO GO OUT AND REGISTER!!!! Every vote counts whether it is Democratic, Republican, or Independent!!