Here's your ballot, Vote maybe?

I know what I believe in. Do you know what I believe in? This song should clear it up. If the song didn't help, reading might.

*I just feel like I need to say "out loud" my reasons for why I'm voting this election year--not WHO, but WHY.*

1) Healthcare--I believe that there should never be a child without healthcare. No child should be sick and without medical care because their parents cannot afford it. No person should be denied healthcare because they have a pre-existing condition, ESPECIALLY when that condition is something that genetically cannot be helped or could have been prevented with proper healthcare. Preventative healthcare shouldn't cost as much as the corrective actions taken. I want a President who will give me, my family, and my fellow Americans a chance to live a healthier life.

2) Equal Pay for Equal Work for Women--this really shouldn't need an explanation, but it is still an absurd issue that today, in 2012 we are dealing with. In a world where women can be Governors, Senators, Secretary's of State, and a Vice Presidential nominee, it is in my firm belief that if women AND men can do those exact same HIGH UP JOBS, then the women in those positions should get paid EXACTLY the same as their male counterparts. It seems ludicrous to me that it is even an option to NOT pay women equal to men for the same job, but with that said, whether the job be a CEO or a bank manager or a manager at a restaurant, in today's world, I want a president who will fight for my right to earn the same wage as a male counterpart for doing the exact same job.

3) Marriage Equality--again I say that it is absurd that in 2012 something like this is an issue we are dealing with. My stance on this boils down to simply this: There is absolutely ZERO reason to deny ANYONE the option to marry the person the love purely because it is a different love than "you" are used to. There is not a single valid point to why another person's same-sex marriage shouldn't be given the same rights as someone's heterosexual marriage. My biggest 'question' to those who oppose it is this--Tell me ONE way a same-sex marriage changes the value of "your" heterosexual marriage? In my opinion, if someone else can affect your marriage that strongly simply by loving someone so much they to want to be married, then your marriage sucks and you really shouldn't be married. I want a president who will move this country forward and stop denying people the human right to love. I want a president who understands that denying a non-normative family the right to see each other when sick in the hospital, or causing one parent to somehow legally be less than the other, is just plain wrong.

4) Education--as a daughter of educators, as a sibling of educators, as a cousin of educators, as a niece of educators, and as a future educator myself I am hopeful but worried about the education system as it stands now. Teachers have one of the hardest but most rewarding jobs. I haven't had a lot of personal experience in the classroom, but I know what happens. I know the stress that is put on young children to perform to a standard that is beyond their abilities at that stage in life. I don't want to continue to see this profession turn into teaching to a test that doesn't actually help children. On a more positive note, I want to see students achieve academic greatness if that is his or her dream. I hope for an education system that allows everyone the same opportunities to learn despite their economic background. I want a president who will work to change the education system for the BETTER and allow the system to have a focus on the students instead of test scores.

5) Pro-Choice--as a woman who has never had to make this choice, I want my choice protected. With that said, I know that for me personally, if the day ever occurred that I had an unwanted pregnancy, I already know my decision.. The only opinions on this matter that matter are those of my parents, my doctor, and myself. And probably the guy involved in this imagined scenario. However, if I were to (God forbid) be raped and get pregnant, my decision would change. And that is and always should be MY choice. I do not believe that any politician belongs in my child bearing (or lack thereof) decisions. No woman needs that. Religious reasons are valid but they are only valid if that religion has a strong presence in that woman's life, not in anyone else's life. What religion politician X believes in has no place in a woman's personal, private matters. No politician can possibly know what a woman is thinking or feeling before or after she decides to get an abortion. No politician can fathom the emotion that possibly goes into these decisions. I will not pretend that there are some who use abortion a little more carefree, but I will never say that it is not their right. I need a president who will not take that right away from me, my (potential) future daughter(s), my nieces, my sisters, my friends, my mother, my aunts, or any other woman who may be faced with this decision.

That is why I am voting. Those are my beliefs and opinions on the issues that matter to me. In my hard of hearts, I cannot vote against what I know is right. Regardless of who wins this election, I will be able to hold my head high and say that I not only used my legal right to vote, but I used that vote to share my voice. I will be voting this year. Will you?


**it should be noted that these are NOT my only concerns about the issues that have come about in this election, but these are the ones I am most passionate about.*