Trick or treat or vote for me

It has occurred to me that it is quite appropriate that Election Day comes on the heels of Halloween. I think there are a lot of similarities between the two.

On Halloween, the kids get a little giddy with anticipation of what they are going to get for goodies from their door-to-door canvassing. On Election Day, the politicians running for office also get a little giddy in anticipation of how many votes their door-to-door canvassing efforts will bring them.

On Halloween, you have a bunch of kids running around with their hands out pretending to be someone or something they are not. On Election Day, you have a bunch of politicians running around with their hands out pretending to be someone or something they are not. The message is the same in both cases: Trick or Treat!

For the kids this is a one-day fun thing that allows them to assume another identity and go to people's homes and get a treat. For the politicians it is a way of life.

The kids go to a party at a haunted house and bob for apples. The politicians go to either the state or federal capital and bob for pork.

The kids choose their costumes with the hopes of being scary, but they are usually pretty cute. The politicians try to be cute, but they are usually pretty scary. They all attempt to mask who they really are.

The kids know that they are just playing, "let's pretend to be a ghoul." The politicians don't.

The kids will debate with each other over who are the scariest, the most ghoulish and the most horrible. So will the politicians. The kids are proud when their friends agree that they are the most horrible. The politicians are proud when the voters think their opponents are the most horrible.

Sometimes the kids will pull pranks on Halloween like wrapping your shrubs in toilet paper. The politicians will pull pranks all year (they call it passing bills) making us wish we could toilet paper their shrubs.

The kids will tell each other spooky stories about voodoo and magic that will give them nightmares. The politicians will tell us stories about voodoo economics that will give us nightmares.

The kids will fill their bellies with all kinds of crap giving them a stomachache. The politicians will fill our minds with all kinds of crap giving us a headache and a stomachache.

Communities organize Halloween parties so all the little "trick or treaters" will be safe and secure in one place. Aristotle felt that politicians should be housed in barracks during their political careers so society would be safe and secure. Interesting concept, don't you think?

Have I made my point yet? I'll admit I have stretched things just a little, but that is a liberty writers take every now and then.

Truthfully, we the people have to have someone to represent our interests, whatever they may be, and we have the option of selecting whom we will give that thankless opportunity to. One has to wonder why anyone would want to do it, but then I always wondered why a little kid will want to dress up as a vampire on Halloween when the very thought of such a creature terrifies them.

So, on Halloween, turn on your porch light to the little ghost and goblins and on Election Day go to the polls and cast your vote for the candidates of your choice. And remember, when the little ones come knocking on your door, "treat" them well, because the way I see it, they just may grow up to be the politicians in a position to "trick" you in the years to come.