Voting Should Be Like Brushing Your Teeth

You just do it every morning and night.  Because it's such an ingrained habit, you don't skip brushing.  It's like putting the key in the ignition, part of the routine that happens automatically.

For Alaskans, primary day is Tuesday.  Many of us have already brushed early, but the polls will close Tuesday night at 8pm.  There wasn't a lot on my ballot - US House and Senate primary choices, but my state rep was unopposed.  But, like brushing teeth, you just do it automatically come election time.

But like every metaphor, parts work and parts don't.  There's more thinking and preparation involved in voting.  If you don't brush, it's your teeth and gums that suffer.  If you don't vote intelligently it's your whole community that suffers.

And like brushing, just voting alone is not enough.  Flossing is important.  So is diet.  And learning about the candidates, supporting good ones with money, labor, yard signs are all important parts of healthy electoral hygiene.


[On other matters, it's been several days since Feedburner last worked for this blog and put my posts on other blogrolls.  For those of you who get here from other blogs here are some of the posts that didn't make it:

Mushrooms And Other Signs of Rain
Walkable Cities Circa 1669
If Women Relate Their Own Gender Battles To Clinton's, She Wins Big 
Man Goes 
Who Invented Inflatable Tube Guys?]