For the love of God, please vote

I've never been a spectacular history student, but I did enjoy a civics course during my senior year of high school. After learning the basics of our gov't, I counted the days until I turned 18 and could register to vote. I happily voted in local races that first November and have voted every chance I've gotten since then. Back when Clinton was running for his first presidency, I recall getting into arguments with folks, insisting that every young person was like me, and I predicted 50% of the youth would vote (I can't remember the exact numbers, but I'm pretty sure I was way off).

Of course, back then, you had to look up the local registrar, call them, then cut classes or work to show up and fill out the registration paperwork. These days you can register from the comfort of your keyboard, at any time of the day or night.

If you're not currently registered to vote, I don't know what perfect phrase I can add here to get you involved. Personally, I feel it's the backbone of our nation and without anyone voting, democracy breaks down. Every year I read my little voter info packets that come in the mail, I do some research online, and I vote after weighing the options. It doesn't matter if I'm pleased with my representitives or not, I vote every chance I get.

The last few elections have had abysmal turnouts and when the voting for a single week's American Idol approached the number of folks that voted in the last presidential election, I knew something had to be done to coax more folks into it. This year, please take advantage of your right to vote. It's one of your only chances to participate in this democracy.

The guys behind HotOrNot are upping the ante and giving away $100,000 to someone that registers to vote at their site (and if you win off that link, I get $100k too). I'm amazed Jim and James are ponying up the dough, but I hope it has an effect and gets more people involved and voting.

So if you're not registered, please, for the love of God, Country, and (in this case) Money, register to vote already!