Stay informed on candidates, issues to vote wisely come November

In this election year, we have an opportunity to make government responsive to our needs rather than the needs of the special interests.

It will require that each of us pay full attention to our current representatives and determine if they are serving our best interests or are ignoring the public they serve in favor of the big, the powerful and the wealthy.

It is not enough to start paying attention on election day. By then it will be too late, leaving us to stare at names on a ballot wondering who to vote for.

Our own Bradenton Herald does an excellent job of publishing editorials, reporting on bills being considered in the Florida Legislature, and informing us on local issues. It is up to us to read these articles carefully, noticing which of our politicians deserve our support and which do not, come November. We should also notice which political party is serving our interests and which party puts the demands of the special interests above those of the public good.

Recently in the Herald: "New Florida law endangers our water supply," Jan. 29; "Attempts at fracking curbs knocked down," Jan. 28; "Sunshine Law advocates: Steube bill will gut public records access," Jan. 27; "The high cost of cutting Florida health budgets," Jan. 27. All supply us with information we need in order to vote intelligently. And I am sure there will be a lot more to come.

If we begin paying attention now and notice which politicians are truly serving their constituents, we won't need to stare blankly at our ballot in the fall. But rather we will be prepared to take action in this election to improve not only our own lives but also the lives of those around us.

James Frazier

Bradenton

This story was originally published February 5, 2016 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Stay informed on candidates, issues to vote wisely come November ."