Get out and vote (11/03/2008)

Some things go without saying.

But they need to be said anyway: Vote.

Tuesday provides Americans with an opportunity to help shape the future of their country. It provides voters in Indiana and Ohio a chance to choose who will represent them at the state level. It provides county voters with an opportunity to select those who will be at the helm in the courthouse. And, this year, it provides Jay County residents a voice on a proposed expansion of the county jail.

Any one of those ought to be enough to have you scurrying to the polls.

Combined, they amount to a watershed moment in individual citizenship.

And keep in mind that it's individual citizenship that Tuesday is all about.

By Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, all our eyes will be glazed over from the endless numbers: The millions of voter turnout, the calculus of the Electoral College.

But all those numbers come from all of us as individuals, making our choices, getting to the polls, and doing our duty.

If you're one of the 10 percent or so who have already cast your ballot, good for you for not letting this election slip through the cracks.

If you're not, then write yourself a note, tie a string around your finger, or do whatever it is you have to do to assure that this most meaningful of the joys of citizenship does not get lost in the shuffle.

Vote. - J.R.[[In-content Ad]]