COLUMN: An 'educated' vote
It seems like the election is being shoved into my brain every which way. Mostly through my eyes and ears.
I see a campaign sign each time I turn around. Every other commercial on the radio is about who to vote for, because apparently the other candidate is a conniving, scheming jerk who would love to single-handedly flush the nation down the toilet. I even stumbled across an Obama cake on Google Images.
With the media forcefully burying me in Obama-Romney controversy, naturally, I’ve thought about who to vote for this upcoming election. Before you flip the page because you’ve seen enough of this political crap in the papers, hear me out: This is NOT about my political opinions. In fact, it’s about my lack thereof.
I’m only 18-years-old. How much of a political opinion can I really have? In fact, can anyone who isn’t even a part of the real, working class yet have a political opinion?
Sure, anyone can do their research. Obama’s convinced that Romney’s utterly apathetic toward middle class Americans, and has no strategy whatsoever for decreasing the deficit.
“Mitt Romney has refused to detail any plan for how he would reduce the deficit," the president said. "Instead, he has called for $5 trillion in new tax cuts weighted toward the wealthy and a massive defense build-up with no strategic rationale, along with deep cuts to investments in the middle class.”
Romney claims Obama’s heathcare policy has already gotten us jumbled up in a gigantic mess of tax quandary.
“No discussion of President Obama’s tax policies would be complete without a reference to Obamacare and its $500 billion in tax increases," Romney said. "Whenever President Obama discusses the need for more tax revenues, Americans should remember that he already got them and spent them on a health care scheme that is itself proving to be hugely disruptive to the economy.”
Both of those excerpts come directly from the websites of the two candidates. I read Obama’s quote as, “Romney sucks.” I read Romney’s quote as, “Obama sucks.” So, maybe they both suck.
It’s impossible for me to know. Sure, I’m an adult by technical standards. But let’s face it: No amount of research will ever educate me enough to be able to make a well-informed vote. Not at this age, anyways. I live in a community where I can eat an unlimited amount of great food with the swipe of a card. The majority of my time is spent on my bed, either sleeping or listening to music. It’s a harsh, cold world out there, and I’ve never been even remotely exposed to it.
So, come November, I’m hoping to make my best guess. My best guess as to who the lesser of two evils is. My best guess as to who won’t single handedly flush the nation down the toilet. And after I cast my ballot, I’m going to go back to my room and take a nap.
