Vote As If Your Life Depended On It

Yes, we all have the right to stay home and not vote. That doesn’t mean it’s the right thing to do.

Yes, elections are messy, aggravating, distasteful affairs. But the brains in our head (the gray matter, if you will) give us the capacity to evaluate the candidates and make an informed decision.

Yes, there is an incredibly important presidential election this year that seems to be sucking the oxygen out of the multitude of local contests here in Wisconsin and elsewhere. But the truth is that your vote for Wisconsin Supreme Court justice may be the most important one you cast this year.

Look, I know that the deluge of manipulative, offensive ads run by so-called independent third party groups make it difficult not to turn your back on the whole unseemly process and wish a pox on both of their houses. But there is a reason these organizations with deep pockets are spending so lavishly on this race. It really matters.

Just imagine if we held a national vote to elect a justice to the Supreme Court of the United States. The airwaves would be bursting with provocative ads trying to convince us of the relative merit (or, more likely, the scandalous past) of one candidate or the other.

Could you possibly decide to ignore the process and stay home on Election Day?

So I urge you to approach Tuesday’s election as if your life depended on it. By that I mean you should do what you would do if you learned you have a serious illness and had an important decision to make about your care.

You would go online and research your options. You would seek out experts with the knowledge and experience that could provide you with valuable information to help with the decision. And you would talk to your friends whose opinions you respect.

Time is short. Do your due diligence and vote tomorrow.

I think the choice is clear. Justice Louis Butler is an intelligent, accomplished, respected, ethical jurist who has the support of an overwhelming majority of his fellow judges. His opponent, Mike Gableman, has been a judge for a fraction of the time Justice Butler has and has engaged in the kind of sleazy campaign that is so antithetical to our notion of a respected and thoughtful judiciary.

But don’t take my word for it. Visit the candidates’ own websites, see how the campaign has been covered by the state (and the nation’s) media, and talk to people.

Can’t we all please agree that elections are important and that all of our votes matter? Do I need to remind you of that drawn out debacle 8 years ago in Florida when the term “hanging chad” entered our nation’s vernacular?

So vote. I don’t want to hear any excuses.