There is lots of discussion on the cable channels and in the blog-o-sphere the past two weeks on the relative power to move voters of the convention speeches by the candidates for President and Vice-President. In my humble opinion, if you do not know who you are going to vote for in a national election prior to this point in the cycle, it may be a sign that you do not know your own core beliefs.
Here's an exercise that everyone should go through at least once in their life - the younger the better.
1. Write down at least five statements of basic beliefs about the role of government. What does government exist to do? Are there areas of life governments should not touch?
2. Next think through your reasons for believing those statements. Why do you believe this? What brought you to this conclusion? Is this belief picked up by osmosis from family, friends or the media? Do you have evidence for your convictions? Are these beliefs compatible with your faith? Are you sure you believe this? Could you explain why, if asked?
3. Finally, think through the implications of those each belief statement. If this is true, what should government do or not do? Is it realistically possible to do these things?
Once you have done these three steps, you will know your core beliefs. After that, deciding who to vote for is a matter of identifying the party and candidates who most closely mirror your core beliefs. Wouldn't hurt to re-do this exercise at least once a decade to stay current and take into account new situations and the "hard knocks" lessons of life.
This sure beats voting for who looks good, promises the most goodies or is considered "cool" to support.
Hope this helps.
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