Chances are your weekend plans include football, cookouts and one-last-summer-fling, as well they should.

This weekend is all about Labor Day, the unofficial “end of summer” celebration that means three-day holiday for many of us, a last trip to the beach, and the start of college football season.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, Labor Day was created, more than 100 years ago, as a national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity and well-being of our country.

But this year, as we find ourselves in the midst of a national presidential race, we think Labor Day should also give us pause to think and consider just what “the prosperity and well-being of our country” means. This year’s presidential race is shaping up to be a referendum between two vastly differeing visions for our country – one which celebrates the “American ideal” of free enterprise, hard work and less government and another which advocates a bigger government, more social welfare and more aid programs.

And those very same American workers who are “honored” during Labor Day will be the ones whose votes shape the direction of our country, in swing states like Ohio and Florida, among others.

Getting past the political rhetoric and campaign spin will be crucial in November. Perhaps it’s then we should think back to Labor Day and the core ideals it celebrates – hard work, integrity, ingenuity, pride.

If we use those as guides, we should make the right choices for the best future for America.