Politics

Over the past few years I have become quite a bit more informed about politics, but I still don't feel like I know enough. I suppose I probably will never know as much as I'd like. Learning the in's and out's about everything politics seems to be an impossible task. With the 2008 Presidential Election quickly approaching, I am hearing, what seems like, infinitely more people saying they're not going to vote because they don't feel informed about the candidates. With all of the forms of media accessible to us, how could someone not be informed? Even before television or internet people seemed well informed about Presidential candidates. There are multiple websites to learn about candidates. One great website to check out is OnTheIssues.org.

Another thing I have came across lately on the issue of politics is the Independent vote. If a person doesn't like either the Democratic or Republican candidate, should they vote at all? There is a couple of ways you can look at it. I feel like a person should exercise their right to vote regardless of which party he/she is going to vote. There have been numerous studies done showing that a candidate will never win the Presidency if he/she is running as an Independent. So if a person votes Independent, while knowing that their vote isn't really going to "count" (in terms of electing the person he/she is voting for), does that mean that person's vote is a wasted vote? Does that mean that person should have just not voted at all? I don't necessarily think so. A vote should not be cast as if it were a bet. I feel a person should be voting for the person who he/she thinks is the best candidate, not candidate he/she thinks the majority of voters will choose.

But there is always the other side to the argument. The other side views the Independent vote as one that if the voter would pick the lesser of the two evils (Democrat/Republican), it could change the results of a close election. This yielded true when Al Gore was running for President against George W. Bush. Independent voters were voting heavily for Ralph Nader, and this changed the election outcome. If those voters would've voted for Al Gore, the United States would've had a different President.

As you can see there are some very interesting things that take place in politics, and as always there are two sides. This Presidential Election is a very important one with some major issues such as the economy and foreign policy. Therefore, I urge you to get informed so you are able to make your own informed decisions.

VOTE!