First-time voters Found a Reason to Cast Ballot

Charles Anderson, 50, didn't vote for Richard Nixon or George McGovern in 1972. He stayed home for the 1976 election between Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter. He chose not to cast a ballot for Ronald Regan or Jimmy Carter in 1980. He didn't go to the polls for Ronald A. Reagan or Walter Mondale in 1984. He passed on voting for George H. W. Bush or Michael Dukakis in 1988. He skipped the election between George H. W. Bush and William Clinton in 1992. He supported neither Robert Dole nor William Clinton in 1996. He was also a non-voter in the 2000 election between George W. Bush and Al Gore. But, this time was different. Anderson cast his 2004 presidential ballot for John Kerry. "I just couldn't stand Bush and that made this election different," Anderson explains. "I didn't like the blatant lies he told about the war and economics and I hated being lied to blatantly about the weapons of mass destruction."  Anderson heeded the words of Malcolm X - if you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem. [more]