This morning, I was chatting on the telephone with a very dear friend, who, with her usual candor, noted that she planned to vote tomorrow but was not feeling particularly enthused about it and did not believe it would make much of a difference. We then commiserated at length about the miserable and all too negative state of political (and foreign) affairs–which, I think, left us both wishing it were a late enough hour to acceptably imbibe a sufficient quantity of liquid refreshment to make the dull throbbing in our temples recede. After a time, we bid one another adieu, and I was left with my thoughts, which offered poor company, indeed.

I began to wonder and worry about the midterm election, which looms like Judgment Day (an event many in the GOP rapturously await). Will the Democrats wrest majority control of the House or Senate from the Republicans? If they do prevail, will it make a significant difference? How many people will bother to vote? Will the election be tainted by irregularities? Will all this fretting make me irregular? What’s that ringing in my ears? Is that tinnitus or the telephone? Is it another bogus automated call? Oh, god, where’s my Xanax?

Okay, not to worry, I’ve managed to calm myself down. Thank goodness there was some leftover Halloween candy handy. (Ain’t that dandy, Mandy?) However, if I don’t pause to take a nap shortly, I’m going to plotz. Before I assume the fetal position, though, allow me to recycle something I wrote back in the olden days. In July–in response to news of an Arizona ballot initiative ‘to award $1 million in every general election to one lucky resident, chosen by lottery, simply for voting’–I offered the following remarks, which I believe are worthy of reiterating:

There is atrophy in the body politic. An increasingly sedentary citizenry is losing interest or desire in exercising the rights and privileges bestowed to them by the founders of this nation. Americans have grown lax. And, as evidenced by the Bush Administration’s unchecked reign of error, we fail to exercise democracy at our own peril.

But the $1 million question is why. It’s easy in a way to blame the public at large for parking their oversized cans on the sofa and paying greater attention to the candidates for ‘American Idol’ than for American high office (as noted here). However, there is plenty of blame to go around, from our elected officials who ‘by virtue of their vice’ fail to inspire our trust, confidence, or participation to the purveyors of our admittedly underfunded and overburdened public educational system who offer civics like the cafeteria offers white rice (i.e., denuded of its essential substance and flavor). Students should not simply be learning about civics but practicing it. We all should, no matter how hard it may be. As Thomas Paine once said: ‘Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must undergo the fatigue of supporting it’.

And we can begin supporting it by actively and ardently demanding that those who govern and the electoral process that determines who governs have the utmost integrity and reliability. Any corruption or betrayal of the public trust and good must be answered swiftly and harshly. We ought demand that common interests take precedence over special interests and that those occupying the Capitol be less beholden to capital. We ought demand real representation and greater inclusiveness at all levels of government. Elected office ought not be reserved solely for the wealthiest among us. A greater abundance and diversity of choices could catalyze greater interest and participation in the electoral process. Much change is needed. The answer to voter apathy and uninvolvement is not a cash-prize lottery. Genuine reform that reinvigorates our political and electoral systems and inspires activism in its fullest sense is the answer. [full text]

So, friends, regardless of how fatigued or jaded you may feel, please exercise your right to vote tomorrow. There’ll be plenty of time to imbibe and nap afterward.