Every day I wake up and hope it is Wednesday, November 9th. Or even Tuesday, November 8th around 11 pm or so, when the news outlets and pundits can call this election OVER.

I remember the 2000 presidential election fondly now, and that was difficult, well-fought and highly contested.  Hailing from Florida, for me, it was truly interesting times.  News broke every moment after the tie!  Supreme Court involvement.  Popular vote vs. Electoral College vote. Finally 537 votes became the difference in ushering in a Republican President instead of a Democratic one.  New phrasing was part of the public lexicon, for instance “hanging chads” and third party spoilers. But the daily news back then wasn’t so debilitating.

Not like 2016.  The electorate, no make that the entire country, is experiencing stress, depression and anxiety as this election season inches slowly towards November 8th.  Every day there are revelations about brand new or decades old assaults hacked and leaked e-mails, conspiracy theories, and now Russia is a player in a US Election?  It’s enough to make any voting age person want to move far away…  The takeaway phrases and accusations from this go-round hail from raunchy late night comedy, VEEP, House of Cards and even Law & Order SVU…far too many to list them all here.

The consolation is that this election is only a few weeks away and most of the information and revelations, well, frankly as depressing as they may be, they are mostly baked in. Sure there may be new shocks to the system, but there just aren’t that many undecided voters given these choices.

So what to do?

• You need to vote your conscience

• How can you do this?
  • Decide for yourself who you want to lead the country.  Remember it’s not an easy job.
  • Do your own information gathering and due diligence.  If you only watch Fox News, try watching CNN or MSNBC and vice versa.
  • Sign up for e-mails and information from both major parties, and others, and decide who represents you, your family, your values, the country and our future the best.
  • Watch all of the debates; the third Presidential debate is coming up on Wednesday, October 19, 2016.
  • Don’t get your news from your friends, you Facebook or Twitter feed, Instagram or Snapchat; that will only give you the false conclusion that everyone you know is voting like you.  And you may be even further frightened by the comments you see and hear.

• Then once you’ve decided, give yourself a break from the news media, your social media, and just take a time-out.  Mute your Twitter and FB feeds. Watch no news for a day or two. You will find the world keeps twirling.

Finally, it’s not an easy job, but it is on you to register to vote; and then vote in November and vote your conscience. Every vote counts. We will get through this.  20 ish days to go, and yes, we’ll be there.

Wayne Taylor