I think many, many, many people - pundits and political strategists alike - are going to fall on their asses in awe of how many young voters end up going the polls in this presidential election.
After winning the Democratic Iowa caucus tonight due to a large turn out of young voters, U.S. Senator Barack Obama said:
"They said this day would never come. They said our sights were set too high. They said this country was too divided, too disillusioned to ever come together around a common purpose.I truly believe this wave of young voters turning out in large numbers will grow into a tsunami by November, and here is why:
But on this January night, at this defining moment in history you have done what the cynics said we couldn't do."
- Because we are the generation who the cost of the unjust war is falling on - both financially and emotionally.
- Because we are the generation who is finally getting a chance to vote in an election that isn't being altered by political henchmen.
One thing almost all people of my generation who voted in the last two presidential elections will tell you is that we feel betrayed by the electoral process.
They were the first two presidential elections we've been able to vote in, and they were both stolen - the first in '00 due to hanging chads and political favors being played in Florida, and the second in '04 due to "faulty" electronic voting systems.
- Because we are the generation who finally has a candidate who speaks to us, speaks like us, and we can trust to speak for us.
That candidate is Barack Obama -and you can mark my words now that he will be the next president of the United States.
There's a reason Obama's campaign slogan geared toward my generation is "Got hope?" He is a candidate that gives us hope after eight years of feeling powerless, betrayed, and forgotten.
- Because we are the generation who will have to live for the next 50 to 80 years in the shambles of what the Bush presidency has left our country and Constitution in.
- Because we are the generation who realizes that change only comes from action, and when your only action in a democracy is to vote - you better believe we're going to vote.
- Because we are the generation who looks past race, gender, and "one-issue" voting to see the big picture - the picture of falling bridges, breaking levees, and crumbling towers.
- Because we are the generation who can't afford not to vote.
"Obama: A 'defining moment in history'" in the Chicago Tribune
"Winners triumphed by attracting new voters" in the Boston Globe
"Young Obama voters lead record Democratic turnout" in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer
"Obama's historic victory" in Time Magazine
2 comments:
Hey Vanessa. You write so concisely and accurately to what is going on with the political race and how it affects/effects (I can never keep those two straight) our generation. Well, it affects mine too. I think I'm an X and you're something else. Y maybe? Whatever doesn't matter. I was behind Obama many months ago and I'm glad to see that he is taking a foothold everywhere he seems to go. I hope he's going to come to Washington sometime soon. Brian
Vanessa, I'm glad the young are getting out and voting. In the 60's, we marched, but the ballot is just as good. Had they come out like this in the 2000 election, just think how different the world would be today? No serious Iraq problem, addressing the global warming problem would be much further ahead. The world would never have heard the disengeneous "axis of evil." Instead we have a borderline personality problem in the White House who substitutes ideology for vision, intellect and leadership ... how different it would be ... "the answer my friend, is blowin in the wind, the answer is blowin in the wind" (Bob Dylan).
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