Voting is a right, not a privilege. It is important to take your vote seriously and analyze each candidate.
There are some people that will vote a straight ticket no matter who is running. My father-in-law for instance, he will vote Democrat no matter who is running. My wife told me a story that happened a few years ago before I had met her. Her dad was going on about how great Mike Pence was, he liked his values and what he stood for and he was going to be proud to vote for him. He then discovered Mike Pence was a Republican and all of a sudden he didn't like him anymore.
In the state of Indiana in 2004 we elected a conservative Republican Governor in Mitch Daniels. Governor Daniels received about 60% of the vote. We also elected liberal Senator Evan Bayh, Senator Bayh received about 60% of the vote. In 2008 Governor Daniels is ahead in the polls by 14% and yet the presidential race is dead even. How can someone vote liberal for a president or senator and conservative for governor? I believe the answer is pretty simple. A large majority of people simply vote based on name recognition instead of reviewing the issues.
What are some key issues to consider? Judges. People often overlook the fact that the president appoints many federal judges including the Supreme Court justices. If you have a liberal president then you will get liberal judges. A conservative president will appoint conservative judges. The difference is that conservative judges believe in making rulings based on the law. Liberal judges try to legislate from the bench. In the 2008 election each candidate has made it clear which side they are on. Barack Obama has proudly said he will nominate liberal judges, McCain has said he admires conservative judges.
Taxes is always an issue. Liberals like to say they want higher taxes for the rich. The "rich" have been described by Barack Obama as anyone making over $250,000 a year. What many people don't realize is that there are many people making $250,000 a year because they have worked 50, 60 or 70 hours a week for many years. Now Obama wants to penalize them for their hard work. Obama's statement that he wants to "spread the wealth" is exactly what Socialism and Communism is based on. If you are going to tax people that make $250,000 at a higher rate, then you are taking incentive away for people to work hard and become wealthy. The United States was created for people to be free and to be able to build as much wealth as they could without worrying about the government taking it.
Defense. We also need to consider who will defend our country the best. Freedom isn't free, we need to consider who will best lead our military. We don't want to go to war, but we also should not be afraid to go to war if provoked. If provoked, we cannot have a leader who is going to drag his feet by negotiating. Many evil leaders take advantage of negotiations to stall for time as they strengthen their military. We need a leader that will have good judgement about when to use the military. In the 2008 election, we have Obama who has clearly stated that he will negotiate with terrorist. We have John McCain who has said that evil must be destroyed.
There are many more issues that should be analyzed before entering the polls. You should not vote for someone simply because they are Democrat or Republican, Black or White, Male or Female. I strongly encourage you to look at the issues and vote for whoever best represents you.