Cecelia FranciscoThere are many reasons I choose to vote. One major factor is that it’s a right and if you’re old enough you should use your right and find out what issues are important to you. I am a registered Democrat who voted against George W. Bush in the last election and hopes that this year people will get it right. Everyone is entitled to his or her opinion, and here is mine.
After constantly watching CSpan, which on numerous occasions had all the Democrat candidates discuss what they think are important issues and how they would run the country differently, I have picked candidate John Kerry to back. I also like John Edwards. However, I don’t feel he will have a chance to beat Bush. I also watch the President speak a much as I can, because even though I disagree with a number of his positions, I feel that you must listen to both sides before making a valid argument.
Many of the people who don’t vote, abstain because they feel that many of the issues do not pertain to them, I will give you information about Kerry’s viewpoint and Bush’s that I feel is vital to you and to your family.
Kerry plans to do as much as he can to bring back the three million jobs that were lost during Bush’s term. This is a huge factor for me because in the past year both my parents have been laid off from their jobs. My dad had worked at the same place for nine years and my mom had worked at the same place for 15 years. Bush, however, has not proposed a plan to get back all the jobs that were lost during his term.
As I’m sure many of you know our school follows Title IX, which allows equal opportunity for women as well as men in sports. This law was passed in 1972, however the Bush administration is considering changing Title IX, which could provide less opportunities for women in sports.
John Kerry proposes that college should become more affordable for everyone and has also proposed a plan to provide students with the cost of public college if they help to serve their community and country. Kerry wants to create a “Service for College Plan,” which will provide the equivalent of a state college tuition toward the tuition at the college of your choice in exchange for two years of service to the community or nation. Bush, however, has no proposal but has said that he wants to make it more affordable.
Bush supports the death penalty, which is no surprise since he is from the state that carries out far more executions each year than any other state. Kerry opposes the death penalty, which I completely agree with, because it costs extremely more to execute an individual than to keep a prisoner in jail for life. In addition, many people get wrongfully convicted. Though you may not hear about it, it does happen.
Bush opposes both marriage rights to gays and lesbians and also opposes them from having the right to adopt. Kerry, although against gay marriages, supports rights for gay couples and also supports adoption by gay and lesbians. Many states are changing the law against gay marriages, which throughout the years I’m sure will become more accepted.
Kerry believes fully in women’s rights and is a firm believer in helping women against violence and is the co-sponsor of “Violence Against Women Act,” which provided over $1 million for women in shelters and also went to hotlines for women who dealt with violence.
Kerry believes that people have a right to own guns. However, he feels that there are some things that need to be changed. For example, the first thing that needs to be fixed are the background check system, because there are too many guns sold to people who are using their gun to kill and not to protect. Kerry also plans to make sure all handguns have a child safety lock, which has caused many wrongful deaths in the past.
Lastly, I choose to vote against Bush, because his reasons for going to war were completely wrong. My cousin is in Iraq and I completely support the troops and all they’re doing for the people of Iraq, but we were supposedly going because Saddam had weapons of mass destruction. Wait, how many weapons did we find, oh yeah, none.
These are just a few of the issues that at least some of you can relate to, but there are also a lot of more important issues that both of these and other candidates are bringing up for the upcoming election. It’s your right, but also your obligation to go out there and to express your feelings toward the issues.
Posted to the web by: Cecelia Francisco
