I believe that everyone who has the priviledge to vote should. It is one of the greatest responsibilities we have in this country. This article is not a Pro-McCain or a Pro-Obama article, its purpose is not to sway voters to one camp or the other, however I do want to point some foolishness out that is driving me crazy and it has great potential to cause harm to the future of our country for our kids.

It just happens that the biggest group of culprits have outwardly and publically supported Barak Obama. A majority of young voters that I have heard from take our priviledge of voting as a joke, yet they are voting between two candidates who will have a huge opportunity to make policies and to elect judges that will be in place for the next 30+ years. Some of the laws and policies that are put into place may not have an immediate effect on those who are voting in this election cycle, but my kids will definitely benefit from them or suffer because of them in the years to come. When I step into the voting booth I no longer have just myself to think about, but now I have 3 children and a future of grandchildren that will be directly effected by the two candidates that we are voting for in 2008.

So young voter, I urge you, before you vote, please do your homework and take this responsibility serious. Over the last several months and during the primaries I have grown more and more aggravated with what I am hearing, here are a few quotes from young voters:

“I am voting for Barak Obama because he is hot.”
“We are voting for John Edwards because we like his hair.”
“I am voting for Barak Obama because that’s who my parents said they are voting for.”
“Did you hear Barak Obama’s speach? I am voting for him.”

All of these sound like great leadership principles that will benefit our country. Within those thoughts lies the answer, I reckon, to balance the budget so my kids do not have to pay back China for our generation’s debts. I can clearly hear the answer to lowering energy cost in those quotes. Within each of those statements I can hear exactly the kind of Supreme Court Justices the candidates will put on the bench. Don’t you see all of those important policy issues within those statements? It aggrivates me that not one of these voters had children, yet they are playing with my children’s future. These are not 18 year olds by the way, some were as old as 25 and they acted as if they could care less about the process, they just wanted to vote for who was cool. I would give the same criticisms to anyone voting for John McCain for some of the same foolish reasons, so far I have not heard statements as ridiculous, maybe its because he is not attracting a lot of younger voters who think in these terms?

“Sean Hannity did a “Man on the Street” Session not too long ago. Now regardless of your thoughts on Hannity, there is one thing for certain, he asks fair questions to perfect strangers about who they are voting for and why they are voting for that candidate during the “man on the street sessions.” One young lady said she was voting for Barak Obama, when she was asked what she knew about him, she knew nothing. When asked what she personally believed in and thought were important policies for our country, she named 1. Lower taxes 2. Victory in Iraq 3. Non-Government controlled Health Care and 4. Smaller government not larger government. Every issue she named was a policy issue for John McCain, yet because her parents were voting for Obama, she thought he held her values. She was 24. She admitted upon getting off the phone she needed to do more homework.”

Hey Young Voter, whether you are a liberal, a centrist, a conservative, or a libertarian…would you do your homework, identify the values you stand for, examine the policies of the candidates and then vote informed? My children and thousands of children around this country are going to live out your votes…essentially your children will too.

Join the Conversation: What do you think about the Young Vote and their Impact, both now and in the future?

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