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Friday, June 6, 2008
A teenage political identity crisis
Posted by Amelia Harnish on Fri, Jun 6, 2008 at 7:21 PM
Amid all the hoopla over Obama being named the Democratic nominee and Clinton's reluctant but inevitable step-down, I started to wonder how I felt about Obama's win.
In the primary that didn't really matter, I voted for Clinton. I did simply because I liked her for all the reasons everyone else didn't — she's a bitch.
I also voted for her because I settled in the voting booth thinking I would vote for Obama (I mean, it's so hard to resist his charm), but when it came down to actually filling Obama's little box, I changed my mind for some reason. Maybe it was loyalty to my gender or just a characteristic of such (I can never make up my mind, that's a female characteristic, right?), but I started to think about what I knew about either candidate. I realized I knew very little about either one other than they were Democrats, like me, and probably thought the way I did on a number of things. And so, on a whim, I just decided that I liked Hillary better. Because she's a bitch.
Maybe it's wrong to vote for someone based on personality instead of voting records and whatnot, but I don't think I'm wrong in assuming that plenty of Americans vote the way I did. I'm not defending it, but offering my own misgivings as a testament to what really needs to change.
This led to an epiphany of sorts: I realized I had no idea what the hell was really going on in politics. I'm a new voter; as a University of Florida student of legal age to do my constitutional duty, this was my first presidential primary. Since then, I've tried to figure out who I truly wanted to vote for. I even tried to watch C-Span! Now that it's all over and Obama's our guy, I'm wondering if he is the right choice. And with the election moving into the phase where we actually pick the next president, I'm wondering if I'm even a Democrat.
In today's news climate, where we have talking heads coming at us from all directions and corporate media placing profits at the top of the priority list, how does one make an informed decision?
Comments (11)
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Like all young people, Amelia, you should get all your political info from the (non)pundit of all (non)pundits: John Stewart. I tell ya, every time I start to feel confused and overwhelmed with the ambiguity of the game that is politics, I just watch the Daily Show and I don't even feel like voting anymore! If you are confused, I recommend it.
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If, at this point in the game, you're questioning if you're even a democrat, I'd say you need to go with your gut. The two candidates couldn't be more opposite, so it should be an easier call, not a harder one. That being said, I'm a registered Libertarian, so I should want less government in my life, not more (typically a Republican trait). However, I want this country to be a tolerant, egalitarian example to all, led by a politically and spiritually progressive people. And I just don't see that happening with McCain at the helm. Maybe it's because he's a POW. Maybe I fear that he'll freak out one day and in a flashback and exact revenge on any person (our country) nearby. Or maybe it's just because I'm so tired of old, white men running shit. I'm also a 32-year old husband and father to a three-year old daughter, and currently cannot afford to provide health care for all of them. Child yes, family no. It's simply cost-prohibitive. I'd like to give the Universal Health Care plan a try. Hopefully it would also cut down on the creation and classification of new "diseases" to bolster the sale of new medications. Medicine, Fear and War are BIG BUSINESS right now. And the more digital screens we place around us, the more at risk we are of being exposed to "purchased" stimuli. I disagree with Ben, I think watching Comedy Central is the worst thing you could do. I say retreat into a cave (or your bedroom), read a shit-ton of history and philosophy and decide what YOU believe in. Then report back.
To disagree with both Ben and Joran - read/watch real news AND watch the Comedy Central 11-12 block. One without the other is just no fun anymore, and the interviews on both Stewart and Colbert continue to improve. I feel your pain though. In my 16 year of being voting age I've been registered as just about everything. R, D, I, NPA and back and forth again. Sometimes I think I'm a socialist, anarchist or communist. I almost fooled myself into believing I was a Libertarian. I have some pretty conservative views on some things and exceedingly liberal views on other matters. I'm only registered as a Democrat right now so I could vote in the primaries, but I wouldn't call myself a "Member of the Party." "I never submitted the whole system of my opinions to the creed of any party of men whatever, in religion, in philosophy, in politics, or in anything else, where I was capable of thinking for myself. Such an addiction is the last degradation of a free and moral agent. If I could not go to heaven but with a party, I would not go there at all." --Thomas Jefferson
Better yet, cut through all the B.S. and consult websites such as factcheck.org and find out if H.R.S. is telling the truth about winning the popular vote, etc. http://www.factcheck.org/askfactcheck/did_clinton_win_the_popular_vote.html And remember, politicians' voting records are public knowledge. See Project Vote Smart (http://www.votesmart.org)
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