Be a change agent, get out and vote

After Tuesday evening’s dispiriting encounter between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden, voters might be excused from falling into a slough of despair over the alarming lack of leadership, much less coherence and gravity, exhibited by both men, though most explicitly by Trump.

The lack of decorum, cogent policy discussions and awareness of the challenges ahead were bad enough; the name calling, constant bickering and interruptions and, as usual for the president, outright lies and divisiveness might mean this was a one-and-out debate. The Biden camp now has an easy argument to make that nothing more can be gained by sharing a stage with Trump, whose strategy was clear: Create chaos and disruption that would so startle Biden that the country would see the Democrat as too old, too mentally fragile and too much a captive of the “radical left,” which is the election bogeymen evoked by Republicans in 2020.

Biden, however, didn’t crack, although his debate performance was faltering, and he lost energy as the interminable event continued and he unfortunately gave into the temptation to play Trump’s insult game.

But, as Trump said about the pandemic, it is what it is.

Still, this election remains vitally important for our nation, our state and our county.

Which is why your vote is vital.

In the past, we’ve been hesitant to hector readers into casting ballots, reasoning that if someone doesn’t want to vote, then they’ve made a statement that either they don’t care how they’re governed, or have given up entirely on the notion that voting is a meaningful privilege.

If someone still chose not to vote, well, that’s their freedom of choice.

But that reasoning rings hollow in 2020.

There’s hardly space here to begin listing the issues and challenges facing us — from the most obvious and global, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the questions swirling about health care and government’s role in providing it.

In the vast space between sickness and health, lie issues such as climate change — egad, we’re just entering the high season of wildfires — and water, forest policies and zoning, internal combustion and electrical blackouts.

Racial equality and equity or law and order? How can these coexist?

Economically, what needs to happen next to ensure small businesses can emerge from this long viral season? How much more will government want to take in taxes (for certainly, more taxes are coming) in an area and state where they’re already making life unaffordable for many?

Will we ever be able to truly change the trajectory of homelessness — a problem seemingly intractable.

These are just a sampling of what faces anxious Americans today. And yet, so many issues and so much time and energy are still being wasted in posturing and social media mudslinging.

We’re a month away from Nov. 3 — although this election date is more of directional sign than any destination. Most California voters this year will be voting by mail. Our state is one of nine automatically mailing ballots to registered voters.

And here’s the good news: If you’re a registered voter, you don’t have to do anything to receive a mail-in ballot for this election, other than checking your mailbox.

But, if you haven’t voted in recent elections, or you moved, or some other unanticipated circumstance has clouded your identity, then please register, or check with the elections office to ensure you do receive a mail-in ballot.