Why I'm Excited About Barack Obama: The Return of the Political Post
I don't really think that Barack Obama is ready to be President. I think Hillary Clinton is much more qualified and would do a much better job. Ditto for Bill Richardson. Issues-wise, I probably agree most with John Edwards. I'm not even going to go into the Republican candidates because, other than John McCain, they are a crazy deluded group of phonies and the party should be ashamed of itself.
But I am very excited that Barack Obama won Iowa and I will be very excited about his candidacy if he is the nominee, and here's why. He is actually getting young people to vote and, more importantly, this is making young people a constituency that the other candidates will actually have to care about. All day yesterday the pundits were talking about how Hillary Clinton and others will have to alter their messages to appeal to young voters. Never in my life have I heard such a statement before. Usually the candidates alter their message to appeal to seniors, to appeal to minorities, to appeal to women, to appeal to military families, to appeal to the middle class, etc. But they never ever try to appeal to young people. This is of course entirely the fault of young people, who never turn out to vote in large numbers and are generally politically unaware/apathetic. This has frustrated me for years, because young people are the people that are, in my opinion, most affected by everything the candidates will do if nominated. People under thirty are the people who will be going to Iraq, who will feel the greatest affects of environmental degradation and who will be paying off the national debt, who social security will run out on, who can't buy houses because of the mortgage crisis and can't pay our student loans. We're most likely to actually have to choose whether or not to have an abortion, we have the most gay friends and loved ones, we're more likely to be punished under the criminal law and we're going to need the most health care in the long-term. And yet, in most elections, we're totally ignored and the agenda is shaped by the needs and wants of people over forty.
So I'm excited about Barack Obama because even if he doesn't win, he's turned the younger generation into a constituency that has some power and clout, possibly even a constituency to be reckoned with. If politicians have to work to get our vote in order to win, the political landscape and the issues on the agenda will change. I think that's fantastic, and I hope it lasts longer than Obama's candidacy. For that reason I would be happy if he won because it might even, in the long term, inspire our generation to have a sustained interest in government and public policy.
Additionally, I find it extremely encouraging in general that in Iowa, a state not known for its racial diversity, a black man won the caucus without race even really being an issue. I think that says something pretty good about America (or about American Democrats?). It makes me believe that he can win on a nationwide basis, again without race being an issue, and I think that's awesome. Other things being equal, I would vote for Obama because he's black just as I would vote for Hillary because she's a woman, and I don't think there's anything wrong with that. I think it's sad that we haven't had any presidents other than white men. Mostly I would LOVE LOVE LOVE for the kids that I used to teach to see a black man as President of the United States. I think it's important not only for other nations, but for the people of our own nation, to see people other than white men in power.
So yes, perhaps I will become an Obama Girl.
But I am very excited that Barack Obama won Iowa and I will be very excited about his candidacy if he is the nominee, and here's why. He is actually getting young people to vote and, more importantly, this is making young people a constituency that the other candidates will actually have to care about. All day yesterday the pundits were talking about how Hillary Clinton and others will have to alter their messages to appeal to young voters. Never in my life have I heard such a statement before. Usually the candidates alter their message to appeal to seniors, to appeal to minorities, to appeal to women, to appeal to military families, to appeal to the middle class, etc. But they never ever try to appeal to young people. This is of course entirely the fault of young people, who never turn out to vote in large numbers and are generally politically unaware/apathetic. This has frustrated me for years, because young people are the people that are, in my opinion, most affected by everything the candidates will do if nominated. People under thirty are the people who will be going to Iraq, who will feel the greatest affects of environmental degradation and who will be paying off the national debt, who social security will run out on, who can't buy houses because of the mortgage crisis and can't pay our student loans. We're most likely to actually have to choose whether or not to have an abortion, we have the most gay friends and loved ones, we're more likely to be punished under the criminal law and we're going to need the most health care in the long-term. And yet, in most elections, we're totally ignored and the agenda is shaped by the needs and wants of people over forty.
So I'm excited about Barack Obama because even if he doesn't win, he's turned the younger generation into a constituency that has some power and clout, possibly even a constituency to be reckoned with. If politicians have to work to get our vote in order to win, the political landscape and the issues on the agenda will change. I think that's fantastic, and I hope it lasts longer than Obama's candidacy. For that reason I would be happy if he won because it might even, in the long term, inspire our generation to have a sustained interest in government and public policy.
Additionally, I find it extremely encouraging in general that in Iowa, a state not known for its racial diversity, a black man won the caucus without race even really being an issue. I think that says something pretty good about America (or about American Democrats?). It makes me believe that he can win on a nationwide basis, again without race being an issue, and I think that's awesome. Other things being equal, I would vote for Obama because he's black just as I would vote for Hillary because she's a woman, and I don't think there's anything wrong with that. I think it's sad that we haven't had any presidents other than white men. Mostly I would LOVE LOVE LOVE for the kids that I used to teach to see a black man as President of the United States. I think it's important not only for other nations, but for the people of our own nation, to see people other than white men in power.
So yes, perhaps I will become an Obama Girl.