A different kind of political post

Between the commercials, the radio ads, and the nineteen pieces of mail I'm getting every day, I'm feeling a little bit buried in other people's political opinions.  My family and I watched the presidential debate the other night, and I mentioned some of my feelings on politics in general.  My husband asked me, "Why don't you blog about politics?"  Hmmm...well, because I've never thought about it.  I blog about everything else, so I decided to write a post unlike any I've read recently.  I'm not a political blogger for a couple of reasons.  First of all, for me, politics does not have to equal dissent.  I'm pretty sure that politicians are not magicians and I don't expect (or believe) when they say they can perform magic tricks.  And since I have no intention of blogging argumentative politics, I'm pretty sure this post won't ever be mentioned on CNN.  But maybe other moms, some dads and a few grandparents will read this.  Maybe you all feel exactly this same way, and needed to see it written.  Maybe no one will read it, and I will just feel better because I typed it.

Hopefully, you won't even be able to tell which way I lean by reading this.  I truly believe that my point can be powerfully made without designating a party affiliation.  I know, crazy, right?

Here's what I want.  I want to raise smart, educated, caring children.  I want them to know what it means to have the right to vote.  I want them to be able to eloquently explain why they feel a certain way about a particular issue.  I want them to learn to do independent research about the points made during debates.  I want my children, myself, anyone reading this, and the guy I stand next to in the grocery store line to worry more about the issues and less about red and blue.  I want politicians to quit making broad, sweeping statements, and honestly tell me that they can't change the entire government single-handedly.  Politicians, tell me what you really can do, what you're going to try to do, and what I (and these future voters I'm raising) need to do to help make it happen.

Apparently, I'm an idealist.  I will proudly wear that label.  Often, I don't take a stand because my feet don't really land on either side.  But this is a point we can all agree on.  Each of us has complete control over the knowledge we each gain before casting our vote.  And we can each remind our children and ourselves that red and blue might matter, but red, white and blue matter more.