The primaries are over — now comes the big one

For those of you who exercised your civil rights and voted in last Tuesday’s Florida primary election, we salute you for doing your duty as a U.S. citizen. With over a week allotted for early voting [38,654 ballots were cast] and the record number of those who took advantage of more convenient absentee ballots, there is no excuse for not having cast your vote. In the annals of Black history, many died securing our right to vote. Even today, many others wish they could have voted — like the estimated 20 percent of Blacks in the State of Florida who because of absurd, biased laws, cannot vote because they have felony records.
It has been an interesting several months here in South Florida with some candidates doing whatever they deemed necessary to secure victory. Lawsuits, name-calling, finger-pointing, dime-dropping and slanderous mailings have been just a part of what we have witnessed. Maybe that’s par for the course in the world of politics or more specifically, Florida politics.
With a higher than usual number of candidates on the ballot, Tuesday propelled a distinct few into office while sending many others back to their home districts where they will inevitably return to more mundane activities. Several candidates will have to continue pounding the streets because of run-off elections. We expect those races to become even more heated and perhaps downright nasty. But that’s only part of what’s in store.
Now that Mitt Romney has announced Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan as his running mate, the gauntlet has been thrown down with the future of America on the line. We have a choice now – a very clear choice. We can re-elect Barack Obama who stands in the gap for a more diverse America — Blacks, Hispanics and other races, the middle-class, the poor, the voiceless, senior citizens, college students, gays and lesbians. Or we can sit on our hands and allow Romney to take over where his first action will assuredly be to keep rolling back the clock. The rich will get richer while the majority of citizens will struggle to survive.
Has Obama been able to keep all of his promises? No. But then, it hasn’t been a cake walk for him given the Republican-controlled U.S. House and Senate. As for Romney, he hasn’t made any promises — at least not to Black America. And he won’t.
So, get ready to vote once again. And make sure you consider your options with care.