Americans are way too used to the idea that government can be put on autopilot. More like cruise control where you glance at your speed now and again to make sure it’s working right but otherwise ignore the speedometer. We show up on election day, vote for our party or whatever names we fancy, and go home and forget the whole thing for another two years. Civic duty done, right?

Yeah, no. That’s just punching the time clock – the actual work was supposed to be done between eight and five. Admit it, you didn’t know who half those people you just voted for even were, let alone what they plan to do for the next few years. If you’re really honest, you aren’t so sure what some of the offices even are and why do we elect a coroner, anyway?

But, but, Trump endorsed at least one of them!

So what? I like Trump – he was a much better president than I thought he was going to be when I voted for him in 2016, mostly because he wasn’t Clinton and the third parties weren’t my cup of tea. But Trump is just a guy that puts his pants on one leg at a time like everyone else. He’s mostly a big idea guy – which is fine, we need guys like that – but that means he’s rarely going to be really well versed in all the boring detail stuff.

Which is fine, too – he hires people who are good at that to do it for him. And here’s where the problem starts – he’s at least one and usually several steps removed from the decision. Even assuming that everyone is doing their best, that’s going to result in poor choices as well as good ones. Endorsements are fine – and a trap. There’s really no substitute for doing your own legwork.

But the primaries are almost over!

Yeppers, and the general election is only a few months away. So, do what you can. Learn about the candidates in the races you care most about for now. There will be plenty more elections where this one came from – a whole lifetime of them.

You’re pouting, aren’t you?

Here’s the thing – candidates are just people with a very weird way of interviewing for a job. You’re the hiring clerk. That’s really all there is to it. You don’t need to memorize every position or vote the candidate holds or cast – just get to know them. Look up their FB pages. See what they say about what they want to do with the job. Check out their positions on the things most important to you, certainly, but also find out how they think they should decide things – decision making is arguably a much bigger part of a representative’s job than any single issue.

What are his or her values? What do other people you know say about them? What are other commenters saying and who are they? It’s more like solving a mystery than doing scientific research – heck, it can be fun.

We talk about people more than any other subject. Don’t believe me? Pay attention to your next few conversations – do any other people’s names come up? Most likely yes. People are fascinated by other people. Getting to know your candidates is just a game of twenty questions where you get to learn about someone else.

You can take notes if that’s your thing or just absorb the information – whatever works for you. But doing a little bit of catching up on your candidates will make you a much better informed voter and a much wiser citizen.

See, the midterms are probably going to be cataclysmic for the Democrats. But even if I’m right and they suffer a full party collapse, that isn’t the end of the problems they have caused. And the Republicans haven’t recently been canonized, either. It’s not time to let go of the steering wheel – it’s time to hang on tight and slam this thing into gear!

A second party will emerge – they always do. The Republicans have a bad case of elititis – seems incurable in them. None of these parties or people running them will ever be perfect and they don’t do a great job of self governance. That’s okay – governing them is OUR job.

Let’s just make sure we’re not asleep at the wheel, okay?