"Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty" - Wendell Phillips (1811-1884)
"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." - Edmund Burke (1729 - 1797)The turnout for the 2008 election was fairly large by American standards (Americans are notoriously uncommitted when it comes to actually getting their fat asses up off the barca lounger and lumbering down to the polls). It was a fairly monumental race, with the first real chance for a black man to become president, and the country's economy teetering on the precipice of disaster. For most Americans, it wasn't black and white, but green or red. America chose, and we are heading out of the red, and back into the green.
That race was inspirational, as evidenced by the turnout. The reality, though, is that
EVERY year is an election year. The "off year" elections cover everything from local dogcatcher to state House reps and senators, to the occassional US House rep or senator. Unfortunately, people tend to be less motivated, and turnout is much lower. Even every 4 years, though, people are woefully underinformed when it comes to who is running for local office, and what they stand for.
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