Crowtche's blog

It looks like the same old politics from John McCain. He promised that his campaign would do away with the negativity seen in politics. Looks like he hasn't kept his word. The first video you see on his site is an attack ad on Barack Obama. Obama has no such ads on his site. Furthermore, you can more easily see Barack's accomplishments and what he has been doing more recently than on McCain's site. McCain is an old guy. And it looks like he's sticking with the politics of old.

Obama has promised change, and look how many attacks he's made! On his site, absolutely none. That may have to change, as the attacks on him may be too much to sit passively and not fight back. However, Obama's intentions are clear: the country needs to shift its focus, and the government needs to become more trustworthy and more focused on the people, and not interest groups.

Obama has been accused of flip-flopping, but this attack has failed now that McCain has failed to keep his word on negative campaigns. People are worried that Obama's numbers in the poll are not as high as they should be. I'm positive his numbers will rise once people start to put more trust and faith in Obama as he continues to demonstrate that he has and will continue to keep his word.

I implore you to look at these sites. It'll help gain your understanding of how these two candidates are approaching the campaign, and hopefully help you to see the strong differences between the two.

From www.juniorpolitics.com

A few days ago I overheard my coworker discussing the elections with one of his buddies over the phone. He was speaking quite loudly, so it’s not as if I was eavesdropping. It provided me with the rare opportunity to figure out what political party he backs. Now, I’ve heard of people who do not like Obama, either they do not like what he stands for, they don’t think he’s qualified enough, etc. But this guy is talking about Obama like he’s going to bring the end of the world. I’d never heard harsher terms directed at him. In the meantime I’m thinking to myself, what is this guy talking about? He’s just another guy with a fresh perspective, what’s so bad about that?

Republicans in the ideal would prefer less government to more. This guy made that perfectly clear: he does not want more government in his life. I can understand that. However, I think it’s incredibly selfish to say that government should stay out of people’s lives. The government is there to protect us. Without government survival of the fittest would surely kick in and then wouldn’t everyone just have a blast… Anyhow, there are those that need the government’s protection. I mean we’re not paying taxes into the system for nothing, right? Those who haven’t been able to find a job in a while (and yes it can happen, and no those people are not being lazy) need government action to help them. The poor need the government’s assistance to pull them out of the downward spiral they are in. There are always going to be those less fortunate than ourselves, we can either let them drown or help them up. How is helping others the end of the world?

Yes Obama is going to try to change the status quo America has set up for itself. Yes change can be scary, especially to the older folks, but it shouldn’t have to be that way. No one who has run for the office of the presidency in the United States has been evil in my lifetime. Everyone has good intentions, and yet bias gets in the way of people’s thinking, as do emotions. Fear comes from misunderstandings, misconceptions, and from ignorance. To be fearful of Obama is to be misinformed as to who he is. Here is my advice: read up on every candidate running for office. Especially focus on McCain and Obama but it wouldn’t hurt to look up the candidates running on the libertarian ticket or another independent ticket. If anything, it’ll help you to sound a little more intelligent if you ever need to go toe-to-toe with someone in a political debate.

From www.juniorpolitics.com

I remember having a conversation months ago with someone on politics in general. I don't remember the exact topic, but it had to do with current events, and eventually also Iraq. In any case, she was mentioning how her parents knew a certain Republican official, and that if he ran for president, her parents would vote for him. And so would she. Naturally, I ask her why. And she can't tell me.

We start to discuss other issues. I bring out all sorts of reasons as to why the Iraq war has nothing to do with terrorism in and of itself. She can't counter any of my arguments, as she has no arguments of her own to make. Does this mean she believes in the Iraq war due to false misconceptions and a blind backing of her family? Of course. I'm not saying don't support your family on issues. But come on, even I would want a reason as to why my family thinks a certain way, and if I have to defend that reasoning, I would definitely want to be prepared for it.

I can't stand ignorance. There are people all over the United States who vote for the red candidate just because he's republican or the blue candidate just because he or she (let's face it, when I see a woman running for president on the republican ticket, I'll correct the other side's pronoun) is a democrat. Even if you yourself belong to a particular party, that does not mean you can opt out of knowing why you're voting for that particular side. Yes, belonging to a party and voting for that party's candidate means you are voting for a certain set of values the party always brings with it. But, not all candidates are alike. No one can ever convince me of that. Politics does not produce robots (although some politicians do seem that way). I had better get a clear answer to why you support or do not support a particular candidate, or I do not want you voting.

That brings me to another complaint of mine, not voting. Some who are ignorant choose not to vote. My solution? Read up and vote. Don't just stay ignorant. You have no right to complain about the current state of affairs in America if you never vote. You've basically forfeited your opinion when you do, and you have left your fate in the hands of the rest of the American public. I, for one, could never do that. Quite simply I don't trust anyone else in making the correct decision. I could never give up that kind of control. There are those of you who say it's pointless anyway, and that your vote doesn't really matter. Well, let's see what happens if 200 million people in America choose not to vote on election day. Let's see how much our opinions really don't matter...

Not voting also happens with those who are incredibly opinionated. I'm talking about my generation of course. Those who talk the talk on college campuses and don't actually take their opinions to the polls. This I feel is incredibly hypocritical. As far as I'm concerned, you're not allowed to have any sort of opinion at all if you let America decide its fate for itself. It's like complaining about a current state of affairs and not doing anything about it. It's like complaining that your house is messy and yet you do not bother to clean it. It's like... well I'll stop there. I think everyone gets the point.

So here are some of my suggestions. If you don't know anything about what's going on at all in American politics, learn. Don't spew out some crap that it's not important or pointless, because that's only true with that sort of mindset. If you don't vote, vote. If you have any sort of opinion at all, learn what the other side has to say about the issue, make up your mind, and then go to the polls. Otherwise, I don't want to hear any complaining, and I certainly don't want to hear what you think, because if you don't think it's important enough of an opinion to vote on it, then neither do I.

The youth voters have a lot to bring onto the table, and we could have just as big a voice as any other age group in America. The politics of today will affect us for years and years to come, isn't it about time we do something about it?