I have never lived in a swing state before; in fact, I’ve never even been close. My hometown is the beautiful city of Boise, Idaho … as in potatoes, BSU blue turf and Republicans. Growing up in the reddest state in the union, I was an endangered species being the Democrat that I am.

Wisconsin, I have learned, is a much different situation. This past weekend I had an interesting experience. I spent Saturday volunteering for the Obama re-election campaign in Chippewa Falls, going door-to-door to ask people to vote for the President.

The entire crusade convinced me completely of one thing: voters in Wisconsin are raising the bar for public intelligence. I’m not about to make a blanket statement regarding the general number of people in Idaho that are politically ignorant, but personally, I know way too many. But why should people learn about politics there? Why should people dare to vote liberally? The fact of the matter is the state will go red. So these people settle for voting with the flow rather than learning about the issues.

I will be the first to admit that I judged Republicans as a generic group based on my little Idaho sphere of
influence. I labeled all people who called themselves conservative as merely ignorant of the issues and moved on. This weekend humbled me. Knocking on doors, I had intelligent and stimulating conversation about politics with people from all over the spectrum.

I spoke with one conservative man who could quote economic figures like an encyclopedia. I listened to an 82-year-old woman who still didn’t know who she was going to vote for, but she had watched every debate and read every news article in her paper. She told me she would wait until walking into the ballot box to finally decide. I listened to the bickering of a married couple who were split in their preferences. But I did not get a single blank stare when I asked about an issue.

Every vote counts here, and people know that, so they want to make a more informed decision. I have a new respect for intelligent conservatives, and a restored faith in the American voter.

I spent a substantial chunk of my Saturday in an effort to convince the people of Chippewa Falls to vote for President Obama. But if Wisconsin goes red this year because informed, intelligent voters truly believed that Governor Romney is their guy, I would be satisfied with appreciating democracy at its finest.

My point is this: learn. Whether your vote matters because your state is pivotal, whether your vote is pointless, whether your family agrees with your vote or not. Learn the issues, learn the candidates and go out and vote.