It’s election time in America, which is about as polarizing a topic as any to most people. There’s so much animosity from left to right that it’s hard to have a civil conversation with someone anymore. The state of American politics  has gotten so out of whack in the last 30 years that it’s now nearly impossible for the untrained news consumer to decipher any trace of the truth in most major-media broadcasts. I could go on about the state of journalism in the U.S. (hint: there’s not much to be found in the middle) but this exercise in expression is going to focus mostly on this years highly-partisan election and why I’m voting the way I am.

I recently read an article by New York Times writer Bill Keller, in which he described how my Alma Mater, Miami University, is playing a pivotal role in the election. Not only is Miami located in the single most important state in the history of this country’s elections (the winning candidate pretty much has to have a big OH painted in their designated red or blue at the end of the day), but it also claims vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan as its most notable alumnus in recent memory. Keller artfully depicts the broad support of the Romney/Ryan ticket by the student body – indeed, my own fraternity proudly displays yard signs bearing the alliterative pair’s names in our front yard, where Ryan learned, lived, and shaped his future just 20 years prior as a member of Delta Tau Delta. As a fraternity brother of this year’s VP hopeful, my support and goodwill extends to him as the race for the White House draws to a close. That does not, however, mean that I will vote Republican this year.

To be blunt, neither campaign was run well, and neither did anything to sway my vote. Both sides reached new lows with flat out lies and attack ads that seemed to never end. From Republicans’ laughable claims that Barack Obama funneled $700 billion from Medicare to help pay for Obamacare to Democrats’ vast exaggeration that Romney will drastically cut funding for all levels of education to pay for tax cuts for the rich, there have been some major stretched truths that many people take as fact.

Yet somehow, the night before the election, I find myself preparing to check the box next to Obama’s name tomorrow morning.

I was raised in conservative Cincinnati by middle class parents who have no party allegiance, and attended St. Xavier High School, a Jesuit institution that values social justice and bears the motto “Men for and with others” with pride and dignity. That commitment to others is a strong factor in the way I think, and does indeed influence my political views, as I characterize myself as socially liberal and fiscally moderate.

I know a lot of people have said that the economy is the only thing that matters in this election, and that’s truly sad. I’ll be the first to admit, I’m not happy with the current state of the country. Overspending from a hope-happy president coupled with the most ineffective Congress in history has taken its toll in the midst of a crippling recession, the likes of which we haven’t seen since the Great Depression. Yes, I think that Mitt Romney would do a reasonable job getting America back on the international map, back in the black, and with a GDP that we can point at and be proud. His plan will streamline the American economy and get it on track in the long term. But it’s who he will step on to make it happen that I have a problem with.

The middle class has been shrinking for years, dating back to Jimmy Carter’s domestic mishaps and Ronald Reagan’s corporation-first attitudes. The poor have been getting poorer, and the rich have been getting richer. I don’t advocate class warfare, but I do advocate reason. There’s plenty of ammunition for both sides to debate whether trickle-down economics works or not, but I for one don’t buy it. Many business owners have gone on record as saying that modest hikes in capital gains and income taxes are highly unlikely to affect their investing in job creation. Giving more cuts to the rich, who in most cases have plenty of capital to invest before said cuts, does nothing but make their pocketbooks fatter.

But hold the phone – I’m not jumping in bed with the liberals that fast. Handouts aren’t the way to go either, and welfare reform is a must if Americans want to start taking any kind of liberal economic approach seriously. Overspending on an abundance of government programs has got to be halted, and focused for better use of the average taxpayer’s money. The bailouts, though necessary, cost trillions of dollars we didn’t have (if you’re a true libertarian, however, you let the banks and the auto industry go under – none of this “too big to fail” bull), and Obamacare was a check that was hard to swallow while writing. Restrictions on small businesses is another gaff, one that has left many middle-class Republicans howling in the wind and shaking their fists.

But in light of all of this, Obama and some of his economic policies have actually helped my family, as well as my dad’s employees, customers, friends, and their families. Because my dad pays for his employees’ complete care coverage, he is rewarded for his kindness (something incredibly few corporations are willing to do nowadays) by the new healthcare mandate in the form of a write off, and that’s money back in his pocket that he can invest in my education, the education of my brother Will, or in my brother Kurt’s trust fund to help set him up for living an independent life. Several of his customers, most of which are staunch conservatives, have begrudgingly admitted that because of his recent policies, they can now afford to keep their families covered, and in some cases now have enough money to send their kids to school for all 4 years of their college education. My dad’s company is finally starting to see some results after a 4 year period of economic turmoil, and the tool industry that was killed by Reaganomics is finally seeing some business return, albeit slowly.

Homegrown energy is another area that both parties are finally getting involved in. Both have good strategies for the short term, but ultimately we are going to have to get off of oil once and for all. Neither candidate wins my vote here, but if you want to know the direction we should be headed, and most likely will under a moderately liberal government, look no further than energy genius and Republican faithful T. Boone Pickens, who is one of Forbes’ 500 richest people in America. Pickens is the most brilliant mind on renewable energy that, for some reason, no one is willing to listen to. If you don’t believe me, check out pickensplan.com for the details. Because regardless of where you stand on drilling into oil reserves, coal, or other fossil fuels, they won’t last forever. I’m all for doing that in the short term, something that Romney strongly believes in. But in a few hundred years we’ll be back to where we are now, and we need to start preparing for the future, which is something I feel President Obama is more likely to do.

I could go into foreign policy and social issues, but it would be a waste of my and your time to discuss Romeny’s shortcomings in this realm. So on to the conclusion…

When it comes to the election, why am I going against the Miami grain and voting for the incumbent?

Well first off, Obama’s policies have created 3.6 million jobs in the private sector alone. Though not the 5 million plus that he lied about in a recent ad campaign, it is still a significant enough number that I give him credit, especially in light of the a Congress that dipped to a 10 percent approval rating this summer.

He’s going to uphold social values for every American, regardless of race, gender, religion, or sexual orientation. Tolerance is something this country is severely lacking in, and I firmly believe that “All men are created equal” isn’t just a proverb on a piece of paper. Withholding rights from women and gays in the matters of abortion and marriage isn’t just wrong, it’s immoral. You disagree with me on the grounds of your religion? That’s great, buddy. But I disagree with you by thinking that Church and State should be duly separated.

And I think he will be the more likely than Romney to reach across the aisle and try working with conservatives, liberals, and independents. I don’t have any evidence to back this up, so I could be completely wrong – I’m not afraid to admit that. But judging by his moral fabric and character makeup as compared to Romney, I think Obama is more committed to working with everyone to do what’s right for the majority of Americans, not just America’s bottom line.

I don’t agree with Obama on a lot of things, including the specifics of Obamacare, energy policies, his approach to both the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and his plan to deal with America’s crumbling infrastructure. If there was a viable, independent third candidate that had a real chance of winning, I would vote for him/her in a heartbeat. But I feel that Obama is the best choice for me this year.

The most important thing to remember, however, is that regardless of who wins the election tomorrow, the world will keep turning. You will wake up tomorrow, go to school or work, and four years from now, your life will be relatively the same despite the economic policy either candidate chooses to employ. So do yourself a favor – no matter which way you vote, inform yourself. Factcheck.org is a great tool to wade through the last minute BS that each side will sling, and a little bit of knowledge goes a long way in making informed decisions. And don’t get caught up in the partisan fervor. No matter if your candidate wins or loses, we’re all American in the end, and damn proud of it.

So I hope to see everyone out in the polls tomorrow. It’s a beautiful thing that you and I can vote whichever way we see fit, and that I can write this brief essay, without fear of being persecuted. We’ve been blessed with the right to shape our country tomorrow, so engage in your civic duty and participate in this great democracy we enjoy here in the United States of America.