GOOD Advice.

For the past few weeks at Starbucks, GOOD Magazine has been releasing a free mini-publication of sorts regarding issues concerning the upcoming presidential election. Every Thursday, a new pamphlet is available near the barista station where you pick up your latte or Frappucino. The pamphlet is great because it informs readers of prevalent issues without any bias; the facts and figures on each page are dedicated to educating readers, not to persuading them one way or another.

Last Thursday's (10/23) issue was about close elections and the importance of voting. The pamphlet highlighted a variety of elections in which a smaller number of votes determined the race's winner. Apparently in 1977, the mayoral race in Ann Arbor, Michigan, was decided by one single vote. Though the the election was not on the scale of a presidential race, size-wise, the statistic had a huge impact on me. Louis Belcher earned 10,659 votes; Albert Wheeler barely snuck by, winning 10,660 votes. Can you imagine being the vote that changed the course of history for Ann Arbor? Can you imagine being the vote that changed the course of history for our country in this election, for the year of 2008? Maybe your vote will change the world.

My favorite part of the weekly pamphlet is the section in the middle that simply says "Vote for ____ . " Each week, the authors of the pamphlet fill in a variety of topics to vote for, ranging from the simple pleasures in life to hot-topic political concepts. This week's causes to vote for were amongst my favorites in the GOOD pamphlet series:

Vote for ___________.
Knowledge.
Choice.
Sweets.
The unexpected.
3 day weekends.
Thoughts.
Life.
Bridging the gap.
Kids.
Hipsters.
The best.
Inspiration.
Balance.
Equal access.
Music.
Happy hour.
Yourself.
Bicycling.
Freedom.
Good grammar.
Truth.
Everyone.

The question should no longer be, "Who are you voting for?" Maybe instead we should wonder what we are voting for.