Everybody vote on Tuesday....well, maybe not everybody

After months of angst and pressure, our presidential election is now only days away.

For those who enjoy politics, this is an exciting time because presidential elections are like the Super Bowl of politics. Of course, people who dislike politics can't wait for this whole process to end.

I always encourage people to vote on Election Day because I believe it is everybody's patriotic duty to do so. A lot of people have sacrificed and died just so we can go through this process every four years.

Additionally, it is often people who do not vote that complain the loudest about our government's problems. Those types of people really get under my skin.

They will moan and groan about the state of our country, but when it comes time to do something about it, they disappear. Often they hide behind the tired argument that one person's vote doesn’t matter, but that doesn't fly with me.

If a person can't find the time to vote, then they should just shut their mouths.

While I believe everybody should vote, my opinion on that recently got a jolt when I saw a poll on how uninformed most voters are.

The Pew Research Center for People and the Press conducted a poll that contained three basic political questions and only 44 percent of Americans could answer all three.

Here are the questions followed by the answers:

What is the controlling party of the U.S. House of Representatives? (Democrats)

Who is the U.S. Secretary of State? (Condoleezza Rice)

Who is prime minister of Great Britain? (Gordon Brown)

I guess I can forgive people for not knowing the prime minister of Britain, but it is inexcusable not to know the other two questions.

And, just think, the folks polled in this survey are going to be casting votes like you and me.

I know I sound elitist, but the results of this poll make me cringe because most voters haven't done as much homework on the candidates as I have. Scoff at me if you must, but if a person doesn't know who the Secretary of State is, then I know they don't know much about politics.

Still, there really isn't anything that can be done to force people to study the candidates more closely. Despite the tons of information easily available to voters, most don't have the time or motivation to study the candidate's positions on the important issues.

Remember, our government is a reflection of us. If our approach to voting is lazy, then we take the real risk of electing officials who are not competent.

Of course, we all whine and complain about what we think is wrong with government, but at the same time, we don't bother to learn who the U.S. Secretary of State is.

No wonder our federal government is bloated and inefficient. Many voters electing representatives aren't smart enough on the issues to cast an informed vote. Therefore, we wind up with what we deserve.

Over the last several months, I have repeatedly challenged the readers of this blog to do their homework when deciding who to vote for.

However, the results of this survey have left me quite discouraged. During the presidential campaign, many have said they are genuinely afraid of Barack Obama or John McCain getting elected. Both the options scare them.

Frankly, the thing to be scared about is that a lot of uniformed voters will be choosing who the next president will be.

Because of this, I probably won't sleep well for quite some time.