People have heard this before.

They have heard the countless celebrities, newspapers and peers tell them they need to go to the polls and vote today.

They have heard that George Bush is a war hungry idiot and John Kerry is a flip-flopping senator Americans can’t trust.

They have read many guest columnists, letter writers and even The Daily Eastern News editorials telling them what they need to know or who they need to vote for.

They have seen sign after sign of candidate after candidate, but many voters still don’t know how each candidate will benefit them the most.

Those registered voters who are still undecided and are weighing their options on whether or not to vote, still need to hear this.

While I do encourage everyone to use their right to vote, I understand not everyone has reached an answer on every national or local race.

This is how you can make your decision today.

In each race there is most likely one candidate who has affected or will affect someone you know with his or her plans for office.

Those same plans may not have a direct affect on you, but indirectly could be important to someone you care about.

If your parents both work in blue collar jobs while trying to help put you through college, maybe Kerry is for you.

Suppose your parents both work very hard and have made their way to high paying jobs. Kerry is in favor of raising taxes on high income people so maybe Bush is for you.

Everyone loves tax breaks, and Bush has repeatedly been in favor of putting money back in the hands of tax payers.

At the same time, maybe someone you know is out of work and has been for a long time. Since Bush took office the economy has lost around 821,000 jobs. Kerry’s goal is to have 3 million jobs created in 500 days.

Get tax breaks or have a job, the decision is yours.

Know anyone who has served active duty in Iraq or currently is there? What do they think about it?

If they think there is no other way around the war and Bush has made the right decision, then back the soldiers by choosing Bush.

If they think their duty was wrong and Bush had other reasons for invading Iraq, then Kerry is your guy.

Have younger siblings who wants to get more involved in after school programs? Kerry wants to provide more funding for these children to keep them out of trouble and offer them help. He also wants to make sure education gets the money Bush promised with No Child Left Behind.

Know somebody who got an abortion and you didn’t agree with it? Bush is pro-life with just a few exceptions such as rape and incest.

Several of these things apply to me, and it has helped me in my decision on who to vote for. My sister is in education, and my parents are in middle class jobs. Enough said; you can tell how I voted.

If none of these scenarios have swayed you, you can still choose to leave the ballot blank in the presidential portion. That is your choice.

But to do that shows you now don’t think anything affects you, your family or your peers, and that just can’t be true.