This week, the usual 22 or 23 month break we normally enjoy from thinking about national politics has been rudely interrupted.

As of midnight Tuesday, nonessential portions of the federal government of the United States were shut down. For those who have not been following the issue, this means about 800,000 federal employees across the nation have been furloughed — ordered to stop working — until a continuing resolution is passed for our national government budget.

For far too many individuals, the details of this fiasco will merely be a distant memory the next time election season rolls around. To be sure, though, when Iowans and others across the nation go to the polls in November next year, the government shutdown will be unearthed again and again, regardless of our recollection of the event.

It migher therefore seem like there is no need to even be paying attention to the situation now. Whether or not you watch the news and read all about the goings-on today, you are sure to be reminded next fall of just what happened.

Unfortunately, when candidates remind their prospective constituents of events which unfolded more than a year ago, their memories can be selectively fuzzy at best.

It can be reasonably assumed that Republican candidates will blame Democrats for the shutdown and that Democrats will blame Republicans. That will be nothing new, as it has been going on since before the shutdown even went into effect. Accusations of “unwillingness to compromise” have been, and will be, leveled at both parties. What will be new will be the details specific candidates prefer to share.

For example, Democrats likely will not share the fact the Democrat-controlled Senate refused to meet with House Republicans immediately following the shutdown. Republicans will likely have similar selective amnesia regarding their party’s refusal to meet with Senate Democrats about budget negotiations in the months preceding the shutdown.

The only way to be a truly informed constituent and voter is to be following this kind of event when it is actually happening: now.

For those of us who will be living here in Ames next year, our elected officials in Washington are Republicans Rep. Steve King and Sen. Chuck Grassley, and Democrat Sen. Tom Harkin. Next November, King will be up for re-election along with a vacant seat to be left by the retiring Harkin.

King voted, along with most House republicans, for measures which tied government funding to the delay or defunding of certain provisions of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. Harkin and Grassley voted for and against, respectively, measures in the Senate that stripped government funding bills of the amendments which defunded or delayed the Affordable Care Act.

Whatever your views on the government shutdown or Obamacare might be, as voters we should be aware of the choices our elected officials are making.

Whether you think King was correct in classifying a then-potential shutdown as “a political tantrum” on the part of President Barack Obama or you think the House Republicans like King are to blame for the current 800,000 federal employees off the job, the only way to be an effective voter next November is to actually understand the issue.

As a voter, you are responsible for knowing what does or doesn’t qualify a candidate.That means being active in or at least aware of your government all year long, not just the month before each election.

After all, a lot tends to happen in 23 months.