So you want my vote?

All right, all you politicians out there, listen up. My vote counts – unless of course it’s in Florida. If you want it, you’ll have to earn it.

First of all, start talking about the things that really matter to me, the little man. Okay, so I’m 6-foot-3, but you catch my drift.

I know that the power brokers think I’m an insignificant speck in the world of politics, but have you ever got a speck of dirt in you eye? They sure can be bothersome until you tend to it.

The way I see it, there’re a lot of specks like me out there that are getting riled up with all the shenanigans. You politicians are not tending to business; you keep getting sidetracked on issues that shouldn’t be politicized instead of doing the job we elected you to do. Allow me to explain.

The Mark Foley sex scandal is a good example. I don’t care if he’s Republican, Democrat, or independent. What he did was against the law. That makes it a law enforcement issue. Arrest him, and throw the buffoon in jail right along with anyone else that knew about it and didn’t say anything. Then we can be done with it.

Stop politicizing this issue — not all of the Republican Party is responsible for his actions. You don’t throw out a carton of apples just because you find one rotten one.

Another example is Harold Ford from Tennessee. He was seen at a 2005 Super Bowl party that also had a bunch of pretty girls in attendance. Oh, the horror. I checked: There’s no law about watching football and then watching pretty girls at a party. That’s about as American as it gets. He’d get my vote, but I don’t live in Tennessee so that would be voter fraud, another scandal.

A local example is our governor, Sonny Perdue. Seems he got a sweetheart land deal in Florida and is going to make a bundle on it. I don’t know if it’s worth $5 million, $10 million, or $40 million. In my book he must be really smart to make that much money on a real-estate deal, and we need a smart governor running things.

The Wife and I just sold a house and lost a pant-load of money. Don’t think either of us will be running for governor anytime soon.

It seems that Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor has forgotten about the issues also. The reporters say his extended family has been getting rich off of state contracts awarded to them for years. He must be really smart too, but there’s no way he’s getting my vote since I didn’t benefit from any of those lucrative contracts.

And while I’m complaining about things politicians do and say, I don’t care about the so-called greenhouse effect. Al Gore says the world’s heating up. Good. I hate cold weather. If we got rid of winter, just think of how much money we’d all save. Al, run again, I’d vote for you.

What do I care about? I want a politician who will follow through on his or her promises if we vote him or her into office. I want someone that will make sure the bad people of the world are put away for good regardless of whether they are in our county, or over there in any of those places our soldiers are stationed.

If people are in this country illegally, then make them legal so they can start paying taxes like all good citizens of this great nation. The way I see it, a person who is willing to work is better than some of the deadbeats we have around here who are constantly looking for a handout. Besides, last time I checked, we have all been immigrants.

And lastly, before I step off my political soap box until next year, we have the issue of “No Child Left Behind.” That’s the federal program that has the states constantly making children take standardized testing to measure student growth and achievement. Every school year, teachers, parents and students hope that the test scores will go up.

Testing children all the time to make scores go up instead of letting the teachers teach makes about as much sense to me as weighing a pig all the time in hopes that he’ll gain weight. It just don’t make good sense.

Politicians, if you want my vote, focus on issues that count, follow through on your word and stop politicizing crime.

One side note – this is my 260th weekly column. That’s five years, folks. Thanks for reading.