Words of Wisdom, 11/3/08 Tomorrow is Election Day in the United States. I guess you would have had to be living in a cave to have missed that fact. It seems to me that this election cycle has been going on forever. In fact, it has been in full swing for more than a year-and-a-half. The French system of a six week campaign begins to seem pretty good. A lot has been written about the importance of voting. To the registered voters who are listening, exercise your right as a citizen. Vote tomorrow for the candidates that best reflect your beliefs. To those of you who are not yet of voting age, pretend that you are and find out as much as you can about the candidates. Every fall, the comic strip, “Peanuts,” there is an exchange between Charlie Brown and Lucy. Every year, Lucy tries to get Charlie Brown to kick the football while she holds it. Every year, Charlie Brown believes Lucy and tries to kick the ball, only to have it yanked away. For many citizens, they feel that it doesn’t really matter if they vote or for whom they vote. They figure the government, like Lucy, is going to just snatch the ball out of the way anyhow. But, I would urge you to be like Charlie Brown. He has hope that things will be different this time. It doesn’t matter that Lucy keeps pulling the football away. What matters is that he keeps trying. I urge you to vote tomorrow because you have hope in the future. In this tough time, I urge you to believe that things can be better. It’s not dumb to believe that you’ll have a chance to kick the football. It’s a sign of your belief in the values of the United States of America.