I never really get up on political soapboxes, so let me have a second, just this once.

And I'm not really going to stand on a soapbox. Because I'm just going to tell you my beliefs. Not tell you that yours are stupid. Because I think everyone totally has a right to their own opinion.

I just want to voice mine.

Yesterday evening, I voted for Governor Mitt Romney to be our U.S. president.

 I voted for Mitt because I believe him to have the money-managing skills needed to start getting our economy on the right path. I also agree with his policies on abortion, gay marriage, and keeping troops in Afghanistan. Honestly, I don't know a lot about many more of his policies. I'm sorry. Some may call me an uninformed citizen. However, I got the information on him that I needed, by watching a bit of the debates (and by a bit, I mean a very small amount), listening to other people talking about the debates, reading a little online, and listening to the radio, and made my decision off of that. All in all, I decided that Mitt Romney was a money-smart guy with a good head on his shoulders, and values that aligned with my own. I didn't think he was the perfect candidate, but I liked what he had to offer. I wanted to see him in the White House.

I did not vote for President Obama because I feel like he hasn't kept the promises he made at the beginning of his last term, and he has not used our money wisely, digging a deeper debt hole than he began with. Also, his running mate, Joe Biden, scares the whoopdeedoo out of me. That guy is psycho.

That's my opinion. And that portion may have gone on a little too long. So let me move on.

So, I voted for Mitt Romney. I was thrilled by the wonderful right I had to vote for my country's leader.

Me! An eighteen-year-old, dewy-eyed college girl. Still a kid! My government had decided that my say was important, and they wanted to know who I wanted to be the United States president!

Happy as a lark, I stayed up all night, watching the electoral votes rise for each candidate, refreshing the internet every few minutes to see the numbers come closer and closer to 270 (the number of electoral votes needed to win the whole enchilada). Mitt Romney had a chance for a while there, but then, President Obama caught up and passed the governor's. Keaton turned on a live stream on Youtube where ABC was covering the whole process, and I got bummed out when I saw that it was over. Even if Mitt Romney won the rest of the swing states, it wouldn't be enough to catch up to the President. I was bummed, and I voiced my bummed-ness on Facebook (like every other Romney supporter in America, haha). I really just said that I wished the electoral college would go away (which was kind of irrelevant to this particular election, because I was told at that time that Romney had won the popular vote and not the electoral vote, but after later research, Obama really did win both the electoral and popular vote, so whatevs. I still don't like electoral college), and my frustrations that 4 years ago, Obama said that he didn't deserve a second term if he didn't keep certain promises, and what do you know, he didn't keep those promises.

Whatever. I didn't say anything extreme. But...

In the hours and days surrounding this election, I saw so much hatred, antipatriotism, and anger plastered across my news feed, that it gave my stomach a pit.

I thought that once the elections were over, people would stop hissing at each other. But they didn't. They continued to push their views on one another, tell each other that they should be ashamed of themselves, and call their friends in opposite parties that they were heartless or stupid.

Then I thought, "Foriegn policy isn't what's really wrong with America. Debt isn't what's really wrong with America. The welfare system isn't what's really wrong with America."

THIS is what's wrong with America.

We can't even exercise our right to vote without hatred and contention.

We're like a bunch of bickering soldiers who are throwing rocks at each other while an even bigger army charges at us, and we are too blinded by our little quarrels to even see them coming.

You guys, when it comes down to it, it doesn't really really matter who our president is. He can't change the world. For one thing, that one man really doesn't have that much power. Gotta be honest. But for another thing, I don't think our Heavenly Father meant for politics to matter that much. I don't think they're unimportant, but I don't think they're everything that keeps a country afloat.

Consider the following:

I know that some of that was a little strange, but it has lots of great points, like, gosh, it isn't fiscal policies and foreign affairs that make a country the best, it's the people that make a difference, and how much the Spirit and the pure love of Christ abides with them.

I didn't see hardly any Christlike love in those political Facebook statuses.

In all honesty, my political statuses weren't even super Christlike.

So, we may or may not have gotten the candidate we wanted for president. But regardless of who is our president, let's make this country a better one.

• Let's pray for Mr. Barack Obama, his family, and his administration.
• Let's stop fighting, and shake hands on the fact that we don't all agree.
• Let's love our neighbor, and instead of hating them for depending on welfare, let's bring them a plate of cookies, really get to know their life, and become a support for them.
• If there's something in our laws that we really feel strongly against, let's work towards changing it!
• Let's use our money wisely, and try to keep our own selves out of debt.
• Let's be charitable. It's hard economic times right now! Give canned food. Volunteer at shelters and schools, and support/donate to non-profits fighting against poverty. 
• Just be kind to everyone, don't speak unless you have something good to say, and be wise. It's hard, and we all have to work on it, and we won't be perfect. But the least we can do is try.

Kay. I'm all done.

*runs off of soapbox with head down, Pedro{from Napoleon Dynamite}style, sipping on a large Sonic cherry limeade*