I was watching Last Man Standing the other night. It was the voting episode.

To set the stage, Mike (Tim Allen), a bleed red Republican, tries to convince middle daughter Mandy (Molly Ephraim) to vote for Romney, but Obama supporter and oldest daughter Kristin (Amanda Fuller) disagrees with his methods. Toward the end of the show, with 28 minutes left before the polls close, Mike asks how Mandy’s  first time voting was. She explains she isn’t going to vote because if she votes for Romney, Kristin would be mad at her and if she voted for Obama, Mike would get mad. Mike presses her and she said she actually went to the web sites Mike and Kristin recommended and felt Obama should be given a chance to continue what he started. It led to the most comical exchange of the night, with Mandy saying, “Did you know that under Clinton there was a huge budget surplus? And, oh, by the way, Clinton’s mom is Obama’s Secretary of State.”

Mike continues to press her, with Mandy saying that’s why she skipping the whole voting thing.

“You happy now?” says Kristin, with Mike replying, “No, I’m not happy. I’m raising three daughters, two are Democrats, there are wet bras in every bathroom in this house. Get your ID. I’ll drive you.”

“Okay, but I just told you who I was going to vote …” Mandy says before being cut off. Then comes the most important phrase of the show. Mike says, “I want you to stand up, sweetheart, for what you believe in…”

That’s what I am asking as well to all my family, friends and followers. Stand up for what you believe in. If you believe in Obama and feel he should get a chance to continue, vote Democrat. If you think it’s a time to change, vote Romney. And look at the other races on the ballot as well.

The point is vote for the person — regardless of party affiliation — who believes in the same things you believe in. Voting is not just a right, it’s a responsibility. We can trivialize it … we can joke about the process, but the right was hard fought by the blood of our forefathers and foremothers {a little plug for the women’s rights movement that was birthed right here in Seneca Falls and the Finger Lakes region of New York}. We may not think our individual vote counts, but it does. It may not turn an election, but it is part of a process that makes us uniquely American.

THOUGHT TO REMEMBER: Run your own race. You have something great to offer.