The very first primaries in New Hampshire and Iowa are a little over a month away, so does that mean there is still time to start thinking about who you should vote for, right? Think again.
Now is the time to start researching the presidential candidates and their platforms. Our generation, like the one before us, has the potential to change the future. It’s a shame less than half of us realize that.
The 2000 presidential election had a poor voter showing. In Pennsylvania alone, just 36 percent of us 18 to-24 year olds voted in the 2000 election. The state had 63 percent of all its registered voters participating in the 2000 election. Why should any government official pay attention to our needs if so few of us vote.
The numbers Pennsylvania voters put up in 2000 is deplorable, but it’s a trend across the nation. More and more U.S. citizens are choosing not to vote.
Their reasoning has a number of layers. Many citizens feel their vote does not count or matter. Some do not want to choose the lesser of two evils. Some are too lazy to vote. Some just don’t care.
These excuses are becoming all too familiar in the recent years. Our future is affected by the people we nominate, yet people blow off the election like it will not affect them. Little do they know that the platforms the candidates propose now will have a great of effect on our future.
A prime example of this is the current debt our nation is in. The United States is over $400 billion in debt and somehow that will have to be repaid. Our parents will not have to pay it off, we will. Our generation just does not seem to care. Instead of America’s youth asking questions about the debt at a recent democratic presidential debate, they grilled the candidates on if they had ever smoked marijuana or not. Is that more relevant to our future than the billions of dollars that we will have to pay back in 20 years?
The Internet is an invaluable source for information. Each presidential candidate has his or her own respective sites for you to look around on. The sites highlight each candidate’s platform for their presidency. Now is the time for you to start researching the candidate you think will be the best for our nation. Your future depends on it.
Posted to the web by Stephanie Mangold
