In the last Presidential election, apathy was the order of the day. Many people saw their vote as almost meaningless. They refused to go to the poles. Excuses ranged from having no time to claiming the state they lived in always went to the other side in Presidential races. This apathy has led to another term of disappearing rights, needless war, international discord, and government-condoned torture.

You would think these regressions would light a fire underneath the hearts of Patriots. Unfortunately that doesn’t seem to be the case.

In a local pub the other day I overheard a conversation. Several servers were gathered at the bar watching election coverage on one of the major networks. When the topic turned to the great Hillary vs. Obama debate, one of the servers quickly chimed in and said that it didn’t matter which of them were elected because somebody would assassinate them before the first hundred days of their term was over. The other servers quickly agreed and the conversation turned course

This alone would suggest that the general population is as apathetic as they were in 2004. Couple it with the fact that the person who said it was a young black woman and one could infer that we have slipped even further into apathy. It’s not surprising considering we’re told on a daily basis by our leaders that the only thing we have to fear is a nut-job with a homemade bomb.

It is understandable that in a population of over 300 million people that the average person would consider the vote they cast as immaterial. No matter how close previous presidential elections were one vote wouldn’t have tipped them one way or another. The inherent flaw in this argument comes down to a matter of leadership.

The media controls the state of political discourse in this country. Sure, with Youtube debates and town meetings we’re given the impression of being involved in the process, but what good does an open forum do when the people allowed to speak are filtered by the people holding the event? What honesty can come from an event organized by a news media that rarely, if ever, challenges the status quo?

And we let them lead the conversation. In just the past few weeks the media have taken it upon themselves to choose the Democratic candidates? By labeling other candidates elves and madmen (Kucinich and Gravel, respectfully) they have discredited them. Now, long before primary season begins we are told the only real choices areClintonor Obama, and woe to anybody in the media who says anything different…

So who should be leading the conversation? Average citizens not unlike our apathetic servers at the local pub. Unfortunately that apathy tricks us into thinking that we have no effect on our country’s destiny. We watch the news and stand behind one of two pre-fabricated popular opinions and pretend we stand informed. We don’t ask questions. That’s what we have reporters for.

If there was ever a time the citizenry needed to take the reigns of the conversation it is now. In the last election the winner came down to a few counties inOhio. It was a tight margin. Imagine if everybody who didn’t vote because it “didn’t matter” had voted. It might have made a slight difference. Imagine if every one of those people had debated with close and trusted friends causing them to go out and vote. That would’ve made a noticeable dent. Now imagine if ever one of those voters and taken that passion and started the conversation around their town. Organized town meetings, spurred debates at the lunch counter and around the water cooler. The results of the last presidential election might have completely reversed.

In order to take hold of this conversation politics needs to become a topic that isn’t taboo in polite conversation. Two people may hold different opinions of the minutia of “Lost,” but rarely has a friendship been ruined due to a debate over the real meaning of those numbers. People should not attach their egos to their political opinions. This keeps them from having a real discourse because neither party can be convinced of the other’s point. The state of the conversation of this country does not allow for learning. Instead, it only allows dogmatism and ignorance.

Leadership. It is something, we’re told on a daily basis, is better left to the elected officials, the news media, and other people “way smarter than us.” It is a right generations of Americans fought for we’ve forsaken in lieu of a temporary safety. We can win it back. It takes one young server to disagree. Then that server may convince a few others who will convince their husbands who will convince their co-workers who will convince their parents and grandparents. Pretty soon our chosen leaders won’t be able to stem the roar of the conversation in cities around our country.

And it will begin with the power of one.

Article by William Meeks

Popularity: 33% [?]

Voters are the central core to any election.

Without voters no democracy could take place, and there would in turn be no election. At some time during every presidential campaign the topic of voter turnout becomes important, this election will be no different. Every candidate, no matter what party they are a member of, will at some point work to encourage more people to vote. Generally the candidates not only work to encourage registered voters to actually vote, but they often encourage the youngest voting generation to register and vote for the first time. When someone votes for the first time they are legally allowed to it makes it much more likely that they will continue to vote for the rest of their lives. This is an important aspect of any election due to vast amount of votes to be won from this area. A candidate can win votes from this by encouraging people to vote, the candidate not only encourages them to vote but also helps them with registering as well as other things. All of this makes the candidate look better and raises the chance of him or her receiving that person’s vote.

Year after year the voter turnout in America is a very low percentage of those who are actually eligible to vote. The most recent vote turnout data shows that just under 50% of the people within the voting age actually voted in the 2000 election. This low percentage is actually an improvement over the 1996 election albeit a small improvement. This improvement is encouraging to everyone, but political parties and candidates still have lots of work ahead of them to win the vote of new voters through campaigns such as “Rock the Vote” and “Get Out the Vote”. Both of these projects are designed to encourage younger generations to register and vote, as well as encourage older citizens to vote in upcoming elections. Commonly people choose not to vote because they think their vote “isn’t important” little do they know that their vote is extremely important to the American democratic process. Often presidential candidates will directly say “your vote is important to me” in reality that candidate is correct, each vote is of extreme importance. Each individual vote might not have any direct impact on the outcome of the election, but a large group of non-voting citizens can have a dramatic effect on an election when they start voting. Overall the American system of democracy is based on the voter, and without them the system will fall apart.

Popularity: 25% [?]