I’ve decided to make an endorsement in this year’s midterm elections.
It’s a pretty big one.
In fact, it might be the most important endorsement I make all year.
I’m endorsing you.
That’s right. You.
Republican, Democrat, independent or someone who is thoroughly disgusted with the whole political process.
I don’t particularly care which box you check on your ballot.
I just want you to show up and check one.
Early voting began Monday across Grayson County, giving residents an opportunity to participate in the Nov. 3 general election.
And while political campaigns have spent millions of dollars trying to convince us who deserves our votes, I’d like to make a much simpler argument.
Your vote matters. So use it.
We live in an age when everybody seems to have an opinion about everything.
Spend five minutes scrolling through social media and you’ll find no shortage of political experts.
Everybody knows what’s wrong with Washington. Everybody has an opinion about Austin. Everybody knows exactly what our elected officials should be doing.
And everybody is more than willing to tell you about it.
Usually in all capital letters.
But here’s something I’ve been thinking about lately.
Posting about politics is not the same thing as participating in democracy.
You can spend three hours arguing with strangers on Facebook about the direction of this country.
You can share a dozen memes, repost an angry video and write a lengthy dissertation about why the other side is destroying America.
You might even collect a few hundred likes along the way.
But none of that counts as a vote.
Not one bit of it.
A social media post might make you feel better. It might reinforce what you already believe. It might even convince somebody else to consider a different point of view.
And there’s certainly nothing wrong with discussing politics.
But at some point, the discussion must translate into action.
And the most basic action available to us is casting a ballot.
Former U.S. Rep. John Lewis, who spent much of his life fighting for voting rights, understood that better than most.
He once described voting as “the most powerful nonviolent tool that we have.”
Think about that for a moment.
Lewis marched across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, in 1965. He was beaten while demanding a right that many Americans now take for granted.
He understood that the ballot box was more than a place to express an opinion.
It was a place where ordinary people could help shape their government.
And that brings us to something else worth remembering.
For much of our nation’s history, the right to vote was not available to everyone.
Generations of Americans fought to expand that right. Women organized for decades before the 19th Amendment was ratified in 1920. Civil rights advocates endured violence and intimidation in their efforts to dismantle barriers to voting.
The history of American democracy is, in many ways, the history of people demanding a voice in their own government.
We shouldn’t take that voice lightly.
Now, I’m not naive enough to believe that casting a ballot will magically solve all our problems.
It won’t.
The candidate you support might lose. The candidate you elect might disappoint you. The policies you favor might never become law.
That’s democracy.
It’s messy. It’s frustrating. It’s imperfect.
And sometimes it moves at a pace that makes a government committee look like a NASCAR pit crew.
But the alternative — surrendering our participation while complaining about the results — doesn’t accomplish much either.
I’ve heard people say their vote doesn’t matter because the outcome is already decided.
I’ve heard others say they don’t like any of the candidates.
I understand the frustration.
But voting isn’t necessarily about finding a perfect candidate. Sometimes it’s about carefully considering the choices available and making the best decision you can.
You don’t have to agree with every position a candidate takes. You don’t have to pledge allegiance to a political party. And you certainly don’t have to announce your decision to the world.
That’s one of the beautiful things about a secret ballot.
You can walk into a polling place, make your choices and leave without explaining yourself to a single soul.
Imagine that.
A political opinion you don’t have to post on Facebook.
Here in Grayson County, early voting continues through Oct. 30, with eight locations available across the county.
That means most of us have an opportunity to find a convenient time to participate.
And while the national races tend to dominate our attention, we should remember that decisions made closer to home often have a direct impact on our daily lives.
The people we elect help determine how our tax dollars are spent, how our schools operate, how our communities grow and what priorities guide our government.
Those are decisions worth taking seriously.
So read about the candidates. Study the issues. Ask questions. Look beyond the political advertisements and social media sound bites.
Then make up your own mind.
I don’t need you to vote the way I vote.
I don’t need you to agree with my politics.
Frankly, I don’t even need to know your politics.
And you don’t need to know mine.
What I want is for us to remember that citizenship involves more than criticizing the people in charge.
It requires participation.
The late John Lewis understood the power of that participation because he knew what it had cost so many Americans to secure it.
And perhaps that’s the perspective we need heading into this election.
Our ancestors didn’t fight for the right to leave angry comments beneath a political meme.
They fought for the right to have a say in who governs them.
So, here’s my endorsement for 2026.
Put down the phone for a few minutes.
Step away from the comment section.
Go to the polls.
Vote for the candidates you believe in. Vote according to your conscience. Vote after giving the issues serious thought.
Then, when the results come in, remember that you did more than simply complain about the direction of our country.
You participated in determining it.
My endorsement is simple.
Go vote.