Ever since I started paying attention to this past presidential race, I have done the math about when I’ll be able to vote about a billion times. I’ll tell you now!! So I’m fourteen, and the election just happened which means I’ll be eighteen for the next election. Which means I’ll be able to vote, and I’ll just barely be of age because my birthday is in July. I think that it is so exciting, in fact it’s exhilarating. In four years, I could make as big a difference in the polls as voters did in this election!!! I’ll be able to go into those big booths and vote just like my parents and other adults I know. I can hardly wait.
This election has really opened me up to how important voting and all that is really important. Before this election, I didn’t particularly pay attention to who was the president (even though I knew who he was of course) and what was going on in the world. Now I do and it is really all because of this election. What I have noticed is that a lot of people in my class have been talking about what has happened during the campaign, who is president and just politics in general like why the economy is in shambles. I remember one day, I was on the bus and all these guys were literally screaming at each other about why the economy was in such a wreck. And when I say screaming, I mean it. And it was the whole 30 minute bus ride too. Although listening through the howls, what they were saying was true and I could see why they were debating. This election has raised awareness about the world, politics in general and the importance of voting. There are about 900ish people in my school and when we all vote eventually, that will be 900ish more than there was.
Ok, so let us take a vote. How many of you here support George Bush? How many don’t? The approval rate for Bush is currently about 29%. Last time I checked, that number stinks. A lot. However low his approval rate is, McCain was endorsed by this man. So they are linked in the public mind (well at least mine) however much his campaign tries to change it. I don’t really understand why anyone would want to be linked with Bush. For all they know, there could be people out there who hate Bush so much, they wouldn’t vote for McCain. Hey, that might be taking it a little far, but you never quite know.
It is pretty much universally acknowledged that your actions bring consequences, good and bad. I have a feeling that this one won’t bring such positive ones just because of the track record that Bush has. And maybe having another Bush-like figure in office is too much of a nightmare for people to handle… I agree. Since I have a mother who works in the PR industry and social media, bad social move for McCain and his campaign. It definitely won’t help in the long run.
I know the title sounds like a reality show, like the Search for the Next Elle Woods, but what I’m really talking about is the search for the vice presidents. This is a very serious matter and the nation holds their breath as both Obama and McCain progress in their looking. Obama has hired Caroline Kennedy, Eric Holder (former deputy attorney general), and Jim Johnson (searched for VPs for Walter Mondale and John Kerry). One of the big questions is: “Will Obama have Hillary for vice president?” There are many opinions going around about this so I intend to add mine… Because of the person Barack Obama seems to be, I think that he might, if only to get the votes that Hillary held. However, if I was him, there would be no way I would choose her. For one, I would not want to bring all the bad press and controversial speeches she has given to my campaign. That way it might get ruined. If I was Obama I would rather have Hillary try to do all the harm she could to me and weather it through with a trustworthy, America-worthy vice president. And if Obama did in fact choose Clinton (i’m hoping he won’t) and make it to being president, it would hurt his career as president. That is because Hillary Clinton might try to ruin his time up there, if the past has been any indicator of her feelings towards him. All I am hoping is that Obama AND McCain make the right decision in who their vice president will be. Because that is an extremely important choice, and whoever it is could either help make or break your campaign.
Although in past primaries, Clinton or Obama has had the leg up, a slight advantage, in the Indiana primary, they begin on equal footing (or so people say). In the two counties where over 25% of the vote comes from (Marion County and Lake County) there are large African-American populations, which is good for Obama. These two counties house Indianapolis and Gary. Not only that, but the north of Indiana considers themselves part of Chicago and have been watching Obama and his growth as politician. I’m thinking to myself… What’s left for Clinton?? Well, even if she won all the other counties, she could still lose because of how big these two ones are. Whatever this data seems to say, I think that it is never certain who will win a primary. What you thought would happen could flip itself around, leaving you feeling as if you’ve been hit by a 50 ton truck. For example, recently I came in second place for a writing competition, The Dupont Challenge. I had no expectations that I wuold win anything and lo and behold… I won second place!! If that will happen with this primary, I have no idea. All I have to say is let the best person win.
At a speech quite recently, Obama stated how he thought that small town voters were bitter about not having jobs, and that they didn’t place their trust in the government but instead held onto religion or antipathy against certain people. And the commentary/intense scanning began. This was analyzed over and over again but what really interests me is Hillary Clinton’s reaction. At everything that she has attended she has mentioned that in order to bring Obama down just a wee bit more. And is it working? Have the people lost faith in Barack Obama? Considering the other things done to him in the past, and that he has worked above in this presidential race, I think not. Barack Obama retaliated by stating that he did not use the correct wording and that he was sorry for offending people. Everyone loves apologies, for they are hard to give. It is interesting however, that Clinton uses the negativity against other candidates to fuel her own campaign. She seems to become more successful from it, or rather in the end will it just collapse around her ears? My mother always says that the honest people win, the good people, and the liars lose out in the end. Will she be right, or will it be an unusual case of the bad one winning (which is funny in movies but not in real life)?