There Will Be No-Shows Tuesday . . .

Americans complain a lot. That trait is in our makeup as free citizens of a country where freedom reigns. Countless complaints are baseless. Some are the result of ignorance. Some are legitimate.

An odd reality is that many of the critics of government don’t show up at the polls in an attempt to vote what they consider “rascals” out of office. How often have you heard “my vote won’t change things,” or one candidate “is no better than the other one.” It’s a “why vote when conditions won’t change” attitude.

We always have felt that the no-shows at the polls have no right to complain because they didn’t participate in the democratic process of voting.

Tuesday is Election Day. There’s more emphasis on voting since this is a presidential election year. In America, it’s the Mother of All Elections!

Voter turnout usually is the highest in a presidential election year. It’s true on a national, state and local government level. It may be that since we are voting for a president, the turnout may be among the highest ever. A reason is that the nation is divided. The latest polls show that the Obama-Romney race is too close to call.

We have had a number of other presidential races in which the policies of the incumbent have divided the nation. We’ve lost count of the number of candidates in a presidential election who have promised change. We’ve also had elected candidates for president who failed to deliver on promises. The one thing that is overlooked during a campaign, and which hardly ever is mentioned, is that a president must have the support of Congress to make any meaningful changes.

An example is the incumbent president, Barack Obama, who has had problems in getting along with members of Congress. As a result he has issued a large number of executive orders to circumvent Congress. He’s been criticized for his many executive orders. One reason he has had problems with Congress is that he’s too liberal. Obama is not the first president to have problems with Congress. Some sources report he has issued more executive orders than any other president.

Dissatisfaction with an incumbent president helps

to bring out the voters. Is the dissatisfaction with Obama going to bring people to the polls in large numbers Tuesday? We don’t have a definitive answer except that it’s possible.

An observation is that the disappointment and unhappiness with the president has had people airing their complaints in a more vocal manner, similar to other presidential years in which an incumbent was ousted. Not too unusual is the anger in some of the complaints.

The majority of people who enter polling booths Tuesday already have made up their minds as to the presidential candidate of their choice. That includes the growning number of independent voters.

Another observation is that four years ago, the Obama supporters were more vocal than they have been this year. The excitement has vanished.

We haven’t heard that much excitement about Mitt Romney either. This is not too unusual in a presidential race — no excitement about either candidate.

But we must vote and never lose hope that we will elect the best person to uphold our basic principles that have made this country unique and great.