Don't Forget to Vote

The other day, my baby boy was playing with the TV remote and hit the mute button just as a political ad was airing for the millionth time.

Brilliant, I thought. Why haven't I been muting those annoying political commercials all along?

This political season has been particularly negative and the mailings have been endless. I was even thinking of voting for the candidate who sent the least number of fliers. I would not recommend that strategy, just like I would not recommend using the "eeny, meeny, miny, moe" strategy in the voting booth.

Fact is, as appealing as muting out this entire political season sounds, every citizen has a personal responsibility to pay attention to the issues and vote.

While voter turnout seems to decrease with every election, this Election Day is particularly important.

In case you haven't heard, the state of Illinois is broke. The state owes villages, like Huntley, hundreds of thousands of dollars and is months behind in payments to the point social services in some cities and towns are in danger of closing.

Who has the right solution to Illinois' budget crisis? Republicans? Democrats? Independents? I'll keep my opinion to myself. What I will say is go vote.

Midterm elections are also important this year and could be a turning point in President Barack Obama's administration. If you support his policies, go vote. If you don't, go vote.

The bottom line:  go vote.

To find your polling place, go to the McHenry County Clerk's office Web site at http://www.co.mchenry.il.us/departments/countyclerk/Pages/Elections.aspx or the Kane County Clerk's office at http://www.kanecountyelections.org/PollingPlaces/PollingPlaces.aspx.