The Cautious Pessimist

So you might have noticed that we had elections this month. A little ballot might have shown up in your mailbox saying something like "official ballot enclosed." You might have looked at it and wondered, "why is there a ballot? I didn't think national elections were until 2010." You might have shrugged it off and went on with your day.

Of course, I say "might" because it's only incredibly unlikely that anyone reading this voted on Nov. 3. Most of you probably had no idea there was an election. I'm fairly certain most of you don't know that a tax increase was on the ballot for Colorado Springs that would have saved the jobs of dozens of police and firemen, or provided funding and maintenance for the Metro system, parks and public pools, and myriad other services in town that are, due to its failure, likely to face drastic cuts (if not elimination altogether).

How many of you have had your cars broken into? Your houses? I suspect that the number of people who just thought "I have" is going to increase rather steadily over the next few years. Planned cuts to the Colorado Springs police force include 26 patrolmen. Fewer patrolmen equals less protection and lower deterrence equals more crime, generally speaking. Have fun with all that.

I know that the ballots have been cast and it's a bit too late to cry over $25 million in spilled milk. The point of all this is to demonstrate that local elections can often be more important, in our day-to-day lives, than national ones. Why, then, is it so difficult to convince younger voters to register for local elections, and to get them to vote on matters that effect them? And by "them," of course, I mean "you." Why don't you, as it may be applicable, give a damn?

Remember how feverishly pitched the Obama-McCain election got? How people were constantly discussing the campaigns, rallying behind their candidate, discussing the stances and viewpoints (and, naturally, the gaffes and blunders) of each candidate? Remember the incredible enthusiasm people seemed to have, and when young voters turned out in historically high numbers?

Where's that sort of enthusiasm for things that much, much, much more closely affect our lives? Yeah, President Obama is a Democrat and that's serious business. Yes, we're going to have new senators and representatives elected in next year, and they're going to make all sorts of decisions representing us up in Washington. Shouldn't we start getting worked up about representing ourselves directly in the elections that really have an impact on our immediate lives?

Some of you reading this, I'm sure, did vote, and vote often. I applaud you, regardless of how you vote or why. Next time, tell your friends to register for local elections. Tell them to tell their friends. Get involved — this is our city, and it's our own fault if we don't take care of it. There's no time like the present to get more involved, even if it's just voting more than once every four years. So please, for your sake and for all of ours, those nonvoters reading this, get more involved in the politics that actually impact your life.