Voters should know why they are voting, not just follow others
Student gives reasons for voting for Obama
Cecily Long
Issue date: 10/20/08 Section: Opinion
It's important for young people who are eligible to vote to do so. But what's even more important is to understand and know what you are voting for and to not make your decision based off others'.
As the election year began, I immediately decided I was going to vote for Barack Obama. Then I took a step back to see why I chose that way.
I consider myself an independent, because the bad out weighs the good with both Democrat and Republican parties. I'm also moderate, because I like options. So those weren't issues.
My parents are voting Obama, but to use their words, just because my parents jump off a bridge, should I?
Oprah endorses Obama, and shouldn't we all do what she does?
I could vote for Obama, because he's black. Well not all black, just half. But during the time of segregation, one drop of red black blood made you black, no matter what shade you were.
It must have been the hardest question on standardized tests: black, white or other.
As a full-blooded African-American woman, I can't pass as anything else. Maybe Puerto Rican, but that would be a stretch; I don't speak Spanish.
McCain's running mate Sarah Palin is a woman, and I'm a woman. I could vote based on those grounds just as much as I could vote for Obama because he is black. But she's an "outsider," and I want someone who knows what's going on.
I don't think my skin tone or gender is all that identifies me. I have so many other attributes to compare.
I am articulate, like Obama, as many people have described him. That is, I can take words and form sentences that are coherent. Should I vote for Obama because we have that in common?
Obama is a Christian, and so am I. But McCain is too so that's a draw.
McCain is left-hand and I'm left-handed. He says he is a maverick. A maverick is an unorthodox or independent-minded person or a person who refuses to conform to a particular party or group. But he does whatever the rest of the Republican Party does, and I don't know how I feel about that.
As the election year began, I immediately decided I was going to vote for Barack Obama. Then I took a step back to see why I chose that way.
I consider myself an independent, because the bad out weighs the good with both Democrat and Republican parties. I'm also moderate, because I like options. So those weren't issues.
My parents are voting Obama, but to use their words, just because my parents jump off a bridge, should I?
Oprah endorses Obama, and shouldn't we all do what she does?
I could vote for Obama, because he's black. Well not all black, just half. But during the time of segregation, one drop of red black blood made you black, no matter what shade you were.
It must have been the hardest question on standardized tests: black, white or other.
As a full-blooded African-American woman, I can't pass as anything else. Maybe Puerto Rican, but that would be a stretch; I don't speak Spanish.
McCain's running mate Sarah Palin is a woman, and I'm a woman. I could vote based on those grounds just as much as I could vote for Obama because he is black. But she's an "outsider," and I want someone who knows what's going on.
I don't think my skin tone or gender is all that identifies me. I have so many other attributes to compare.
I am articulate, like Obama, as many people have described him. That is, I can take words and form sentences that are coherent. Should I vote for Obama because we have that in common?
Obama is a Christian, and so am I. But McCain is too so that's a draw.
McCain is left-hand and I'm left-handed. He says he is a maverick. A maverick is an unorthodox or independent-minded person or a person who refuses to conform to a particular party or group. But he does whatever the rest of the Republican Party does, and I don't know how I feel about that.
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