Voting: The Hidden Power of American Youth

In a nation of individuals, the decision not to vote sends a message to the governing bodies of this country: you give your consent to whatever government officials are elected, and while you may voice your dissatisfaction, you probably won't vote to oust them in the future. No matter what your political affiliation, legislators are making decisions that affect America's youth daily, and receiving little or no response from those whom the decisions affect.

The only political voice we have is that of our vote. According to the constitution, we are too young to run for office, too young to be considered legally emancipated from our parents, old enough to take a bullet for our country, old enough to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and too young to have a drink. Does anyone else see the contradictions here? A larger voter turn out in primary, presidential and local elections sends a different message to the candidate hoping to represent you. The message: We are a voice to be heard.

Issues Facing Young Adults

The Draft: For now, the draft is not effect. However, with an increasing urgency to thwart terrorism and overthrow violent political regimes, some politicians in Washington have suggested reinstituting the draft because of low military recruiting numbers. At present, every male U.S. citizen over the age of 18 is required to register for the dormant draft. There is a difference between patriotic fervor, and being willing to die in a war you may or may not agree with.

Abortion: Recently, the morning after pill (called Plan B) has been made available without a prescription. Some argue that a woman is in control of her own body. Others argue that the unborn fetus has rights. Some politicians in Washington have been trying to regulate abortion; some have been trying to move for paternal consent, others have been moving to criminalize abortion once more. If you are involved in a sexual relationship, and are wondering what happens if the condom breaks, you should pay attention to this debate.

Stem Cell, Embryonic, and Medical Research: Many cures to types of cancer and leukemia may be available through medical research, which could save millions of lives. However there is an ongoing debate about the morality of these programs. The new HPV vaccine, which prevents the spread of a virus known to cause cervical cancer, has also come under fire because some believe it will promote increased sexuality amongst teenagers and young adults. This may not affect you immediately but it will if you're a smoker who doesn't want to pay the ultimate price for a cigarette.

Minimum Wage: Some say the minimum wage in this country must be increased to keep up with inflation. Others say increasing the minimum wage will cause inflation. Increasing inflation means everything becomes more expensive. If you're on minimum wage, you may want more money, but you also want the prices of items to stay the same.

National Health Care: If you're over 18 and not a student, your parents insurance will no longer cover you. Many large companies are finding new ways to get out of giving their employees full benefits. On the one hand, free health care for all means that everyone can have longer lives, regardless of class. If you're lucky enough quality privatized insurance, you don't want to wait for services you used to get for minimum co-pay. This debate affects everyone.

No education, No Drivers License: In Illinois, a motion passed the senate revoking the driver's licenses of underage high school dropouts, or students with 18 or more unexcused absences. If effective, this could move into other states. Have you ever lived in a suburb without a car?

The Drinking Age and Blue Laws: To be fair, 18+ year old drinkers can be rowdy and often don't know how to hold their liquor. This may be because 18 year olds feel alienated by the legal system. Consequently, underage drinkers drink too much and experience serious medical side effects. However, the argument can also be made that since the legal system considers the legal age of rational maturity to be 18, the drinking age should be lowered to reflect this. Also, reducing the drinking age to 18 would bring these 18 year olds into the open with their drinking, and might prevent alcoholic binges that arise from the rush of breaking a law. If you're over 21, and live in a state where booze can't be sold after 10:00PM, you may or may not want to voice your opinion.

Tax Cuts: The only thing good (it seems) about filing taxes is getting that refund check. The only problem is: where is that money coming from? Whether you want to keep your refund checks coming, or you want to keep the social services that were cut in order to keep those refund checks coming, you want to know the candidates positions on tax reform.

Gas Prices: Is anyone else mystified by the idea that for the price of one gallon of gas, we can buy a junior bacon cheese burger and a small fry (and in [i]some states we could also get a small coke)? Even the car-less population is affected, public transportation costs are raising due to high gas prices. The "dependency on foreign oil" debate affects anyone who doesn't walk everywhere.

Jobs going abroad: Companies are sending skilled and unskilled jobs abroad lately. So, even if you go to college, you may lose your job opportunities to foreign workers. On one hand, these companies are bringing economic opportunities to countries where no opportunity was present before. On the other hand, where are you going to work?

Educational Budget Cuts: Many state schools are losing funding as a consequence of unbalanced state budgets and loss of federal aid money. As a consequence, students with less fortunate economic background will not receive as high a quality education after high school. And while students do not have to pay loans off while still students, the interest after college adds up. Many are still paying back their student loans well into their 40's. If you're a college student, this is your hot-button issue.

And Now, the Candidates...

Democrats

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton: Would be making history as the first woman to grace the oval office. Some Bill Clinton loyalists consider voting for Hillary to be a 2 for 1 deal, as she employs many of her husband's old campaign staff. As a political moderate, even conservatives have given Senator Clinton a grudging respect. Under her husband's administration, she authored a national health care program which came under conservative fire.

Senator Barack Obama: If he receives the nomination from the Democratic Party, the junior senator from Illinois will be the first African American with a real shot at occupying the presidency. Senator Obama prefers to face the domestic issues, and would prefer a unified world stance on foreign poverty and terrorism.

Former Senator John Edwards: Propelled into candidacy by hurricane Katrina, Edwards stated that his "grass roots" campaign would be one that focused on domestic issues such as health care and poverty. His popularity has grown immensely over the past four years, so much so that he has risen from a representative to a vice presidential nominee in record time.

Republicans

Former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani: 9/11 brought Giuliani into the lime light and his disaster control methods made him "America's Mayor." Economically, he is conservative, but he was able to win over New Yorkers because of his less conservative social views on women's rights and gay rights.

Senator John McCain: Was a prisoner of war during the Vietnam conflicts, and has received acclaim for his courage under fire, both militarily and politically. Senator McCain believes in bipartisanship and election reform. Sometimes alienating his fellow republicans, McCain has no qualms voting with the democrats, if he feels it is the right thing to do.

How to vote:

Register to vote: https://electionimpact.votenet.com/declareyourself/voterreg/index.cfm

Full instructions on how to register are provided on this website.

Find out where to vote:

https://electionimpact.votenet.com/pfawf/pollboothlocator/index.cfm

Entering your zip code on this web page will show you where there is a polling station in your area.

Additional Resources

www.RockTheVote.com

Rock the vote is a movement in America that has been using pop culture as a means to encourage country-wide voter participation, regardless of political affiliation. On their website, you can find tools to help you register, as well as information on the issues that might move you to participate in the next election.

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2006-09-27-myspace-voter-registration_x.htm

This USA Today Article highlights the myspace.com effort to enable the internet savvy youth, to register and vote. This article also describes a non-profit group called "Mobile Voter," which, "offers a service for people to register via cell-phone text messaging.

http://www.tolerance.org/teens/stories/article.jsp?p=0&ar=89

Moya Bailey, the author of "A Call to Black Youth," sends a message to the black youth of America, calling the power of a vote one way to seriously affect change and transform the status quo. In her article, she touches on issues facing African American youths, such as the disenfranchisement of African American felons, the AIDS epidemic, and racial profiling. While the issues facing African Americans today are not the same as they were one or two generations ago, Bailey states that voter participation is still essential among African American youths, who are not yet understood by the politicians representing them.

Conclusions

The Beauty of the United States of America lay in the reliance of the political system upon its citizens. Throughout the years, ethnic minorities, women, and youths have fought to secure the privilege of the vote as a right. At the dawn of our nation, the only national election with voter participation was for the House of Representatives. Even then, literacy tests and poll taxes were utilized in order to oppress the less fortunate sects of society.

Throughout our country's history, people have fought and sometimes died defending a citizen's right to choose their leaders. It was only thirty-seven years ago that the 18 year olds in America obtained the right to participate in elections. Do not demean the struggle of our predecessors by remaining silent when you would like to see something change.

Sources:

1) http://cnn.com

2) http://www.foxnews.com

3)http://c-span.com

4)https://electionimpact.votenet.com

5) http://www.qctimes.com/articles/2006/03/15/news/local/doc4417b98295292775768128.txt