The election season is over, the people voted and the 2005 Presidential Inauguration is now complete. For better or for worse, George W. Bush is President for the next four years. Naysayers can argue until they’re hoarse whether or not the playing field was fair, but it is Game Over… right?
Wrong. After several frenzied months of incessant media coverage, prepackaged sound bites for the undecided and adrenaline packed rallies for the diehards, the political season seems over. But, football teams don’t hibernate after the Super Bowl until the leaves start falling and the season begins again the next fall. A lot goes on behind the scenes that the casual fan doesn’t notice. The players hit the weight room and the playbooks.
Just like our favorite sports, politics goes on even when most of us stop tuning in. Policies are argued and voted on and enacted. New and old political players interact to shape the country and the perceived success of their decisions affect whether or not they win at the polls the next election season. The only difference being there is a lot more at stake in government and the way policies affect our lives. For most politicians, staying in power is the aim of the game, so they must build an image that makes their actions appear successful at all costs.
The problem lies in the fact that political issues are a lot more complicated than the 15 second talking points that candidates throw around. Most of the issues are three-dimensional and require voters to have a firm grasp on political institutions, political motivations and societal consequences.
From the beginning of the United States at the Constitutional Convention in 1787 there was enormous controversy on how much of a voice the people should have in electing a president. Many did not trust the people with what they considered the formidable task of electing the nation’s leader. Alexander Hamilton wrote in the Federalist 68 for the creation of our modern voting system and the Electoral College to provide an obstacle to “cabal, intrigue, and corruption” in the selection of the president. He had faith that the American people should have this role in the process to prevent unscrupulous elites from abusing power. The people should choose.
Every four years youth are bombarded with “Get out the Vote” campaigns and glamorous celebrities telling us to “Choose or Lose.” But, what if we don’t really know what we are choosing? Despite the fact that this 2004 election was highly controversial, 18-29 years olds made up 17 percent of the electorate, exactly the same percentage as 2000.
Perhaps this is simply the number threshold of students who are willing to take the time to (hopefully) research and cast an informed vote. Is it better to make an uninformed vote for the sake of voting or to simply leave the decisions to those who are responsible enough to research and assess the issues critically?
Ideally, college students would embrace the privilege of voting and enthusiastically take on the responsibility. For each of us, that responsibility starts now.
Politics is a high stakes game where many of powerful people have a lot to lose, but the American people also have a lot to lose by not recognizing the truth behind the smoke and mirrors politicians create. We need to know the rules and the penalties to understand when the game is being played fairly.
We can all recall the 80’s movie classic when the wise-beyond-his-years Ferris Bueller said, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once awhile, you could miss it.”
Start looking around now, and stop sitting ignorantly and passively on the sidelines.
E-mail comments to Amanda at [email protected].
