Election time!

Like so much else, our political life is part of a cycle. And when the opportunity comes around again to exercise our right to vote, we have the chance to reflect on this important responsibility.

A famous French visitor to our shores, Alexis de Tocqueville, wrote in his masterly sociological study, Democracy in America, that "circumstances facilitate the maintenance of a democratic republic in the United States." Tocqueville described some of these circumstances, for example, he pointed out:

The chief circumstance which has favored the establishment and the maintenance of a democratic republic in the United States is the nature of the territory that the Americans inhabit. The continent still presents, as it did in the primeval time, rivers that rise from never failing sources, green and moist solitudes, and limitless fields...

Well, okay, so things change. But there must be some reason democracy thrives here. Could it be:

The Americans have no neighbors and consequently they have no great wars, or financial crises...

Um. Alright, so let's forget Tocqueville. Who cares. Here's our point. It's time to exercise your right to vote. At this moment in our history, it is crucial to be reflective and responsible as you vote for your First Year Student Government Representative. That means voting for Madhuri Nishtala. Let's face it, these other candidates are charicatures. Their smiles are just painted on. Look at Madhuri. That's a genuine photograph. Vote now. And in the tradition of Chicago politics, vote often.