<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=us-ascii"></head><body dir="auto"><div><span></span></div><div><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div><span></span></div><div><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div><span></span></div><div><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div>Courtesy of <i>CBS News' Sunday Morning</i> at:</div><div><br></div><div>(with video)</div><div><a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/nancy-giles-to-voters-dont-flunk-the-midterms/">http://www.cbsnews.com/news/nancy-giles-to-voters-dont-flunk-the-midterms/</a></div><div><br></div><div>---------------------------------------</div><div><br></div><div><h1 class="title" itemprop="headline" style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; text-rendering: auto; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; word-spacing: -0.04em; line-height: 0.9; letter-spacing: -0.07em; font-size: 50px; font-family: nimbus-sans, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(32, 32, 34);">Nancy Giles to voters: Don't flunk the midterms</h1><p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><em>To vote or not to vote? That is the question some Americans have been asking themselves ahead of Tuesday's election. Our contributor Nancy Giles knows </em>her <em>answer:</em></span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">As soon as I was old enough, I was poised and ready to cast my first vote, especially in a showy, sexy election -- like President (Carter vs. Reagan), and later, Mayor of New York City (Dinkins-Giuliani). </span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">They were the top dogs, the movers-and-shakers, and in my mind, they were the ones that made things happen.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I'm embarrassed to admit that those other offices -- the Members of Congress, state legislature, local school boards -- none of those races grabbed my attention or interest. </span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">But the dismal performance of the current Congress, the 113th Congress, really got my attention. </span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Between <a href="http://shutting%20down%20the%20government/" target="_blank" style="text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer;">shutting down the government</a>, <a href="http://shutting%20down%20the%20government/" target="_blank" style="text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer;">voting countless times to repeal or change the Affordable Care Act</a> after it became law, and <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/do-nothing-congress-on-track-to-be-least-productive-ever/" target="_blank" style="text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer;">being on track to be the least productive Congress in 20 years</a>, I finally realized that those little local representatives I never paid attention to play a huge part in running the country.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The legendary Tip O'Neill, former Speaker of the House, said, "All politics is local." Yeah, I thought I got it. </span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">But now, I <em>get </em>it. </span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Bills that became law on the state or local level often have national impact, from <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/what-the-voter-id-court-battles-could-mean-for-election-day/" target="_blank" style="text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer;">restrictive voter ID laws</a>, to <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/law-of-the-new-year-13-states-to-raise-minimum-wage/" target="_blank" style="text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer;">raising the minimum wage</a>, to <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/one-year-after-newtown-congress-still-stalled-on-gun-control/" target="_blank" style="text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer;">new gun laws</a>. </span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">And, not to be forgotten: <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/gerrymandering-film-exposes-truth-of-redistricting/" target="_blank" style="text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer;">gerrymandering</a>, the drawing and re-drawing of local districts to help insure that a particular party gets a majority of votes -- and House seats. Those configurations directly impact the makeup of the House of Representatives, which has a direct impact on how (and <em>if</em>) our government runs.</span></p><ul style="margin: 0px 0px 15px 20px; padding: 0px; list-style: none;"><li style="background-image: url(http://cbsnews1.cbsistatic.com/bundles/cbsnewscore/images/standalone/article-arrow-gray.png); padding: 0px 0px 0px 20px; float: none; display: block; background-position: 0px 8px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;"><font color="#000000"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/early-voting-is-turning-out-more-voters-who-sat-out-2010/" target="_blank" style="text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer;">Early voting is turning out more voters who sat out 2010</a> (CBS News, 10/31/14)</span></font></li><li style="background-image: url(http://cbsnews1.cbsistatic.com/bundles/cbsnewscore/images/standalone/article-arrow-gray.png); padding: 0px 0px 0px 20px; float: none; display: block; background-position: 0px 8px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;"><font color="#000000"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/will-there-be-a-republican-wave-in-the-midterm-elections/" target="_blank" style="text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer;">Will there be a Republican wave in the midterm elections?</a> (CBS News, 10/29/14)</span></font></li><li style="background-image: url(http://cbsnews1.cbsistatic.com/bundles/cbsnewscore/images/standalone/article-arrow-gray.png); padding: 0px 0px 0px 20px; float: none; display: block; background-position: 0px 8px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;"><font color="#000000"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/governors-races-update-tight/" target="_blank" style="text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer;">Battleground tracker: How many governor's races have tightened?</a> (CBS News, 10/27/14)</span></font></li><li style="background-image: url(http://cbsnews1.cbsistatic.com/bundles/cbsnewscore/images/standalone/article-arrow-gray.png); padding: 0px 0px 0px 20px; float: none; display: block; background-position: 0px 8px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;"><font color="#000000"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/what-will-millennials-turn-out-for-this-midterm-election/" target="_blank" style="text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer;">What will millennials turn out for this midterm election?</a> (CBS News, 10/09/14)</span></font></li><li style="background-image: url(http://cbsnews1.cbsistatic.com/bundles/cbsnewscore/images/standalone/article-arrow-gray.png); padding: 0px 0px 0px 20px; float: none; display: block; background-position: 0px 8px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;"><font color="#000000"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/do-latino-voters-matter-in-the-midterm-election/" target="_blank" style="text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer;">Do Latino voters matter in the midterm election?</a> (CBS News, 10/24/14)</span></font></li><li style="background-image: url(http://cbsnews1.cbsistatic.com/bundles/cbsnewscore/images/standalone/article-arrow-gray.png); padding: 0px 0px 0px 20px; float: none; display: block; background-position: 0px 8px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;"><font color="#000000"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/2014-midterm-elections-most-expensive-ever/" target="_blank" style="text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer;">2014 midterm elections most expensive ever</a> ("CBS Evening News," 10/29/14)</span></font></li></ul><p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Remember high school? Classes, surprise quizzes and (halfway through the year) midterms. If you flunked, you had a good chance of flunking the class.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Well, the midterm elections are just days away, and if you're 18 or older, if you don't vote in the midterm elections, if you don't <em>participate</em> and do your part to insure that our democracy is truly a representative one, I've got news for you: </span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">That will be way worse than failing a class: you'll be failing yourself and your country. </span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">So <em>vote! </em>Every election counts.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">--------------------</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"I Voted" stickers are seen on a table at a polling station in Harding Elementary School November 6, 2012 in Youngstown, Ohio.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px;"><img src="cid:11DAE815-73AD-4548-97A1-BA5483F5B023" alt="image1.jpeg" id="11DAE815-73AD-4548-97A1-BA5483F5B023"></p></div><div>---------------------------------------<br><br><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Seeya at the polls, Moscow, because . . .</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)</span></div><div><a href="http://www.moscowcares.com/" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><font color="#000000">http://www.MoscowCares.com</font></a></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></div><div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Tom Hansen</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Moscow, Idaho</span></div></div><div> </div></div></div></div></div></body></html>