Over two hundred years after that mandate, it is still unclear whether it will work. In the 1850's, Abraham Lincoln warned:
“Elections belong to the people. It's their decision. If they decide to turn their back on the fire and burn their behinds, then they will just have to sit on their
blisters.”
A hundred years after that, Gore Vidal bemoaned:
“Half of the American people have never read a newspaper. Half never voted for President. One hopes it is the same half.”
Winston Churchill called democracy "...the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.… ". In short, it is messy.
Still, every four years,
Americans must make critical choices that will shape our nation's democracy. Citizens are expected to research their options and then vote for the candidates most qualified to fulfill the country's goals. Thomas Jefferson called education a "...vital requisite for our survival as a free people."
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