My mom once said that the most important things in a marriage are politics and baseball. So shortly after my parents married, my dad registered to vote and cheered for the Pirates instead of the Phillies.

That was in 1975, so the scope of national politics has changed a bit since my parents were married, but they continue to vote in every election as well as go to Pirate games.

So, as you sit there and ponder who on this earth could continue to cheer for the Pirates after so many consecutive losing seasons and would bother to vote in every single primary and general election, consider this: Things change.

My parents can sit and tell me all of the major political and national events since they were married--the Iran hostage situation, the Challenger explosion, the assassination attempt on President Reagan, the Gulf War and so on and so forth.

However, I can't imagine such a drastic change in national politics as there has been in the past four years.

While the beginning of Pres. Bush's term is characterized by his reaction to the horrible events of Sept. 11, the rest of his presidency is marked by a divisive nation that is watching as a difficult election process begins to unfold.

He went from being the man of the hour to a highly controversial international figure. If the election was held in the year following Sept. 11, he could have won no contest. Now, he's in the middle of a bitter campaign against John Kerry.

So, what's changed in four years that caused this tremendous upheaval in U.S. politics?

We've gone into a war that even Pres. Bush said is hard to win; we've watched as gay couples tried to marry, sparking a hot national debate; we've sacrificed personal liberties when John Ashcroft deemed it necessary; and we've watched our economy go on a roller coaster ride.

You might be opposed to all of these issues or for all of these issues. You could be for some and against others.

That's why this election is so very important. Too many issues that affect our lives are in the balance. These are issues that people are willing to fight for and in some cases die for.

So, what do you think?

Should we send troops to Iraq? Should we grant gay couples rights? Should we sacrifice some of our personal liberties so that the nation is a safer place to live? Should we be worried about our economy?

And most importantly, who is the right candidate to lead us through this?

That's the million dollar question at this point.

It's easy if you have a definite left wing or right wing point of view. However, for many people in the middle, there isn't a clear choice. The ardent supporters of middle of the road candidates like Joe Lieberman and John McCain are left without a speaker.

So, who is the right choice?

Many of my friends who have recently registered to vote have not picked a candidate to support yet, simply because they take a middle of the road approach to politics. They try to avoid talking about it around me because they know I'll try to sway them to a certain side.

And I'm not the only one who tries to persuade them to vote for a particular candidate. These friends face opinions from parents, classmates and friends who all want them to vote for their guy. You might be in a similar boat.

So, sit down for a while, away from the friends and the parents, all the opinions and viewpoints and think about the past four years. Think about what has changed and what you think about it.

Remember, it's not always about being a loyal Democrat or Republican; it's about the direction that you want to see the country travel.

Once you've done that, you should know who to vote for in the Nov. 2 election. And now that that monumental decision is taken care of, I suggest you try and catch a Pirates game before baseball season leaves us yet again.

But just remember baseball comes back every year and the election is only every four.

What more can change in the next four years?