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I’m not a political person. I don’t care to sit around and talk politics. In fact, we have a rule in our house that politics is not a topic that will be discussed. I think it is mainly because I have my own opinions on who is the best person to vote for, and others have their opinions, and chances are, our opinions are not going to match and we can either argue about it or not discuss it at all, and I prefer not to argue.

I think I got it from my parents. Politics was never a topic around our dinner table. When I turned 18 and became eligible to vote, my mother would ask me on Election Day if I had voted, but she never asked who I voted for or why I voted the way I did.

You might think, considering the line of work I’m in, that I would be passionate about politics, since it seems that many of us in the news media are, with almost everyone wanting to get his or her opinion in the newspaper or on the radio or on TV. But I’m not that way. I do have my own way of getting my opinion out (you’re reading it right now), but for the most part, I reserve my opinion for issues rather than for political candidates.

In other words, I have no problem letting you know where I stand on the Charter Schools Admendment on the ballot (Amendment 1). I think it is a bad idea that will take needed funds away from our public schools, give our taxpayer dollars to companies more interested in making a profit than educating our kids and grandkids, and re-segregate our schools, this time based on intellect rather than race. In other words, I say vote “No!”But I’m not going to tell you how I feel about President Obama or Mitt Romney, or who I think you should vote for.

In the 37 years that I’ve been casting votes, I’ve voted for Democrats for President and Republicans for President. But I have never voted a political party line. In the same election, I’ve voted for the Presidential nominee from one party and the Senatorial and Congressional nominees from the other party. And the same style of voting goes down the line into state and local elections. I vote for who I think the best candidate for the job is, and not for the political party he or she belongs to.

Along the same line, I’ve never worked at a newspaper that encourages endorsing one candidate over another, and hopefully, I never will. I think a large part of the refusal to endorse a candidate is that I’ve always worked at community newspapers in towns where everyone knows everyone else. Endorsing one candidate over another could cause us trouble if the other candidate wins. In a large city like Atlanta, that might not be a problem, but here, where we all live and work together, I think it is better not to alienate elected officials because we might not have endorsed them.

So I urge you to get out and vote today for the candidates of your choice. That’s what I’ll be doing. And when we get through, I’ll be happy to talk to about the weather, sports, or any number of other topics… other than politics.