Your vote does count! Yesterday was the start of early voting in Louisiana and many other states in America. You can vote for president of the United States for the next week or on Nov. 6. I hope you and our fellow Americans will take the time to cast your vote in this domestically and globally important election.

Your vote does count, and it matters. You aren’t just voting for the next president. You are also voting for the next vice president, secretary of state, secretary of defense, future members of the Supreme Court, the leaders of the federal government, the head of the Treasury and America’s ambassadors to nations around the world.

Your vote does count because it affects the entire globe! The president of the United States and his policies, appointed officials and statements made on international events all have a major impact on the entire planet. Our dollar, as weak as it may be, determines the world’s currency rates. Our economy, as weak as it may be, determines the success of other nations. Our military, as weak or strong as it may be, is relied on my millions around the globe as their defense system.

One of my favorite quotes is “we, the living, are the hope and dreams of those that came before us.” There was once a time when different groups in this great country could not vote, and our ancestors fought long, hard battles in war, politics and culture to achieve this precious right. For example, if you are an African American, it was only 60 years ago when your parents and grandparents were refused the right to vote based solely on their skin color. Women, you are the majority in America but it was less than a hundred years ago when you could barely have a political opinion much less vote.

Even after the Women’s Suffrage movement and the passage of the Civil Rights Act, laws were put in place to hinder minorities, the less wealthy and less educated from performing their constitutional right. In the 1700s and 1800s it was mainly property owners who voted. Therefore, your vote does count because you can now do something that millions before you couldn’t, and billions around the world still can’t.

Your vote really does count, so use it, and make your ancestors proud. It’s America’s choice, and the world is watching.

The last bite…

Monday, the Krewe du Monde committee had their monthly meeting, and the hosts served up a feast! We had sausage fritters that tasted like a McDonald’s sausage biscuit, potato salad, chicken and andouille gumbo, chili and an assortment of finger foods. I, of course, ate everything! I give a meeting that comes with a tasty feast 5 out of 5 crumbs!

Buddy Boe, a resident of Garyville, owns a public relations and program management company and is well known on the local political (and food) scenes. His column appears Wednesdays in L’Observateur.