You don’t have to vote enthusiastically. Just vote.

I’ll be casting my ballot – disappointed though I am.

I just could not stand by and let meat heads and miscreants take over the world’s most powerful democracy. That would be more than a shame; it would be a crime against humanity.

I’ve been hearing the chants of doom from pundits and pollsters: the Democrats are going to get a flogging; crazy Tea Party cranks are going to win the mid-term elections and capture both houses of Congress.

It’s enough to dampen your fighting spirit – if you let it.

But wait a minute. They’re changing their tune as the election draws near. Here’s a heartening excerpt from an AP dispatch this morning:

Senate races are tightening to nail-biting margins.

That makes your vote more important than ever. Yours could be the vote that keeps the Senate out of the clutches of dangerous extremists.

Yours could be the vote that prevents them from shutting down the government out of spite, depriving old folks of the Social Security checks so vital to their survival. Yours could be the vote that saves health care benefits for thousands of Americans, that keeps food on the tables of struggling families, that protects the jobs of teachers, firefighters, law enforcement officers and so many other essential public servants across the nation.

Yes, the crazies have made no secret of their desire to do all of the above – and more!

This is not your father’s Republican Party. This is something else, something far more sinister. The editors of The Nation note that:

The GOP’s lurch toward extremism extends far beyond the ideological cleansing of moderate RINOs, “Republicans in Name Only.” Ideas once considered beyond the fringe could have high-profile champions in the next Congress, and absurd premises and proposals are likely to have their own caucuses. The vast majority of the GOP Senate candidates, for example, reject the overwhelming scientific consensus on the human causes of climate change. Joe Miller, running strong for an Alaska Senate seat against Murkowski, supports repeal of the Seventeenth Amendment, which provides for the direct election of senators; wants to privatize Social Security; and is against abortion even in cases of rape or incest. Both Miller and Sharron Angle, who is in a tight race to take majority leader Harry Reid’s Senate seat, want to eliminate the Education Department. And Angle, like Delaware long shot Christine O’Donnell, seems unaware that the Constitution requires the separation of church and state.

This is no time for sane people to watch from the sidelines. As the English statesman Edmund Burke said so long ago, all that is required for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing.

So – for sanity’s sake – vote!

Vote now before you forget.

And vote Democrat.

I toyed with the idea of voting for “Independent” Charlie Crist in the Florida Senate race. I thought Crist had a better chance than Kendrick Meek of beating that unspeakable Marco Rubio. But I’ve abandoned that idea. I’m going to vote for Meek, win or lose.

Who knows? The polls could be wrong.