Getting out the Vote

It is finally here, a few of you are still making up your mind but many of us have been chomping at the bit to vote on Tuesday. Dick Williams, my colleague on The Georgia Gang, pointed out last Monday that he wished the election was held on that day because he knew Republicans could win-last Monday. What will happen this Monday and more importantly, on Tuesday?

If you haven't made up your mind, then find an issue and make up your mind. Make no mistake about it, if one group tells you the other group does not want you to vote-they are lying. I would vote against a candidate based on that alone. No politician worth his salt would want you to stay home. If they do, they don't deserve your vote much less serve you in elected office.

Let this election cycle turn the tide. Let it begin the modernization of Georgia politics and mark the death of the "good ole boy" syndrome and the beginning of ideas. Republican or Democrat, it is time for the dirty politics and unethical backroom deal-making to stop. The most respected political expert I know, Bill Shipp, thinks I live in a dream world.

Bill is right; I live in a world where candidates talk about the issues and what they will do, not what is wrong with the other guy. We have a good example of that future in the State House 21 race between Democrat Tim Hoyt and Republican Stacey Reece. They took the high road and stayed there. They also did something unheard of, they communicated with each other. Instead of going off half-cocked and attacking their opponent at the very hint of wrong doing, they checked it out first-a novel idea-including checking with each other. They looked before they leaped and I respect both of them for that. Good luck to both of them.

I believe that there is a new tone ready to be heard. Negative advertising still works, but there is a movement against it and it's a clear one. Political pandering is out, too. Maybe it is not out but it is down for the count. The Governor and his cronies gerrymandered the lines with the hopes of creating districts for White Male Democrats. It looks like Blacks and Republicans will benefit again. Don't they ever learn? You can't tell people how to vote. I predict a Republican controlled delegation of 9-4 and a big loss for the Democratic cronies that tried to orchestrate the outcome.

I am for the people and I want to hear their voice. On the day after the election, I will happily support those who win. That is what we do in America; we've just forgotten that for awhile. It is nice to be back on the right side of the street on elections. That is what I will fight for you and for me because we are the future of Georgia. So get out and vote your conscience, not what someone tells you to vote. I believe in you and you should too.

Let me know what you think about this and other opinions listed here. Join me each weekday for The Martha Zoller Show on WDUN AM 550 and see me on Fox5 Atlanta's The Georgia Gang as well as radio and television programs across the country. Email me at [email protected].