O’Neill letter: Learn about candidates

As another election year continues on its course, picking up more momentum and more followers by the minute, political opinions and conversations are growing ever more heated. By this time, most people already know who they want to vote for and are just waiting for the official nominations to come down and then the tug-of-war over the undecided and independents begins. I’m talking about the presidential election of course, but what would you think if I told you we’re all wasting our time? No, I’m not a conspiracy theorist, I just believe we need to shift our attention ever so slightly. Do you know who’s running for Idaho’s seats in the Senate this year? Whose district you’re in? What local, city, county, and state elections are happening? If you do, fantastic, I urge you to vote for whoever you’re supporting. All of these elections are more important than that of the president, in my opinion. These offices affect us the most directly, especially at the local level. So please, I urge you to learn about the candidates for the other offices up for election this year and vote according to your best judgment. Then we can worry about the president.

This story was originally published May 8, 2016 at 11:25 PM with the headline "O’Neill letter: Learn about candidates."