I Can't Be Swayed

Along with most of the world, we've been keeping a close eye on the presidential race.  We've been gathering for debate watching parties and discussing the news.  One friend has even been wearing swanky, artsy earring with her candidate's name on them. 

And all of us have ordered our absentee ballots and we're mailing them well early. 

But with all that said, I also think it's important for each person to make their own decisions, but lately it's been driving me NUTS.

First of all, I can't be swayed.  Not only am I well-convinced that my candidate is by far the best man for the job, I've already voted.

My ballot, by this time, is sitting in a pile of ballots in Gainesvegas waiting to be counted, if it hasn't already.

Second of all, here are a few things that wouldn't sway me, in any case:

1) An email forward with the subject line: INTERESTING

You can 99% guarantee that these can be easily debunked by a quick Google search or a click over to Snopes.  

In just the past few days I've clarified, among other things:

 

Obama does not advocate that his daughters have abortions.  He is an American citizen. He financed his education through scholarships, loans and his grandmother scraping the rest of it together, not through shady Middle Eastern terrorist people..  (Michelle financed her own education in much the same way.) Then they paid off the loans with the results of hard work, including law school professor'ing, Michelle's high paying jobs and several best-selling books. Also, the people who had a big hand in running Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac into the ground are not his primary financial advisors.

2) A blog post in which the writer bases her passionate argument on incorrect information.

This one actually was the worst.  

The writer, who I will not share with you, is a secondhand acquaintance of mine. She is absolutely in favor of one candidate and lays out in fairly clear logic why.  

The problem (other than the misspellings) was that she was using completely incorrect, misquoted, and taken-WAY-out-of-context information. 

And, all of this information can be clearly traced to these "interesting" emails, as well as various "attack" ads that have been exposed as misleading by the mainstream media. 

The worst part is that she is a board member of a gay and lesbian rights organization.  She has five young children, all under the age of 13 and her family is having financial issues right now, as is most of the country. 

So right there you've got gay rights, education and taxes, three topics I suspect she cares about an awful lot. Three issues each candidate has absolutely opposite plans on how to address them.

And she's advocating and choosing based on completely incorrect information.

But, I am not a pundit. I will correct misinformation and share my own views when asked, but I am a firm believer that you should make your own choice. 

But also, don't trust what I have to say.  

The information is out there, just know your source. 

News stories in reputable news outlets will present both sides.  Editorials and columnists are slanted and based on opinion.  Speeches are all over YouTube.  Their Congressional records are online.  Each candidate has a website.  

It's all out there and easily accessible.

Then vote.