The last time we had a president who didn’t associate himself with a party was 1776, when George Washington was awarded the position. Since then, voters have slowly become more focused on a candidate’s attachment to political parties rather than political platforms.

If you’ve ever told yourself that you completely agree with either party on every issue, you are either drastically uniformed or truly blinded by political bias.

We are fed caricatures of the candidates that distract us from how similar they are. Despite the concept of Romney as a disconnected elitist and Obama as a man of the people (an image that, along with his strong speaking skills, got him elected in 2008), what we’ve really got is two lifetime politicians with law degrees from Harvard who are worth more money than most of us will ever make.

While many call the election a decision between the lesser of two evils, it is not that. It is, however, a compromise.

If you approach the election as a series of decisions regarding specific issues, you will quickly realize that some of your views lean Democratic and others Republican. You’ll also realize how similar the two candidates are in many areas.

As we approach Election Day, voters have the responsibility of not only learning the candidates specific stances on certain issues, but also deciding which of these issues are the most important to them.

Personally, while I am beginning to lean a certain way, I have yet to dedicate my vote to either candidate.

I’ve come to accept that I probably won’t make a truly informed decision until 2016 or even 2020. But by November 6, I will have a candidate I am knowledgeable about and can stand next to on the issues I think are the most important.