The 2008 Presidential Election is a unique one, indeed. What, with its first African-American presidential candidate, the first female vice presidential candidate (despite being the lying, two-faced hypocrite that she is), the first female presidential hopeful that actually had a shot for a second, and one of the oldest presidential candidates in history, this election will certainly go down in history. And let's not forget the energizing of the 18-24 voting demographic (me among them).
You're probably reading this wondering, "I know this already. Why is this blogger repeating the obvious?" Well, this one is from the not so informed, who-let's face it-probably don't visit ProU on a regular basis, if at all. Alas, it is a message that needs to be sent.
Now, everyone has their own reasons for backing the candidate of their choice (and let me make this clear: I don't want to hear them; don't comment with them), but one answer has rung out clearly in my area and scares the ever-loving crap out of me:
"Because my mom and dad are voting for him."
Now, this may not be as widespread in your area, but an alarming number of newly registered voters down here are voting along with their parents instead of getting informed on where the candidates stand themselves. It shocks and scares me that anyone with a voter registration card and basic cable would do such a thing and somewhat sickens me that this is perfectly legal. Since it's illegal to bar someone from voting just for being too lazy to read a newspaper or watch the news every now and again, I'll just leave those of you to who this applies with this:
YOU ARE 18! You are not only old enough to vote, you are old enough to move out of the house without needing emancipation. You are considered a citizen by the state and the country. It's time to stop following your parents around like minors and grow a proverbial pair, which means getting informed and forming your own opinion. If that is too much to ask of you, then I beg of you, on behalf of the welfare of our great nation, to stay home during any voting periods your state offers.
People are always trying to get others to vote on Election Day, but I take a much more hard-liner approach which echoes your complaint: if you don't know the candidates well enough, you should not be voting. I'd rather not the future direction of my country be determined by an ignoramus, because quite frankly, that's exactly what the uninformed voter is.
Just as an aside, I do happen to be voting for the same candidate as both my parents (which is unusual because they are on opposite ends of the political spectrum). However, that is just a coincidence.
I've met plenty of people who are casting their votes for the wrong reasons, but fortunately I've been spared from hearing people say "I'm voting for so-and-so because my parents are."