Cardboard-Induced Guilt

As Election Day 2008 approaches, I see the world around me change. It’s just a different place when two men are in the midst of a heated race for the right to lead America. During this time, there are many observations I make while going about my daily routine on Temple’s campus. As I am hounded for the 2,346th time by someone asking me if I am registered to vote, I wonder to myself, what’s in it for them if they fill the quota of people they need to register? They do their job with such fervor that I almost feel bad that the entire campus is programmed to just say “yes” with no eye contact and continue walking. As my journey through the recently overpopulated walkway continues, the eyes of the life-sized cardboard cutout of Barack Obama cast a disparaging look my way and I can’t help but feel isolated. Though I am certainly not the only person on Temple’s campus leaning more towards the right politically, at this time of year, it sure feels like that. You see in a largely outspoken liberal population, you better be sufficiently informed and have a booming voice to get an ear, even if you have just a moderate outlook on politics. Associating yourself with the Republican Party in any public forum is similar to claiming allegiance to the Nazi regime. Look, I will obviously admit that our current President leaves a lot to be desired in a Commander-In-Chief, but this fact does not validate the statement “Bush Sucks” as a political ideology. As bad as Lil’ Bush has been, I sometimes feel that there is a large contingent that has little idea what role he played in our country’s current debacle.

I personally would vote for a candidate regardless of party affiliation if I believed he was the best man to run the White House and nation. The problem with the current election is that Bush’s body of work has urinated all over the Republican Party, leaving its stench on any appointed candidate that the Elephants may have run for them. This fact, along with the multi-cultural appeal and youthful exuberance of Obama, has certain portions of Temple’s campus simply buying into the hype, even though they are completely uneducated about he or John McCain’s views on most of the major issues. I feel that if Satan ran on the campaign platform that he was the anti-Bush and he was against the war in Iraq, he would draw every voter that was not thoroughly “right-minded” to begin with.

People say that when you don’t vote you are taking democracy for granted or that you are not using your voice to be heard in government. This sounds so wise and insightful, but it fails to account for the uneducated masses who will flock to the polls. Is it good to have your voice heard if it is a belligerently drunk one? Whether you are blinded by bias on partisan lines or just in need of something to believe in, check your shortsightedness at the door. The future of our country rests in the votes of those who could read up and make informed decisions, or take the easy way out and follow a crowd. Do you really want to feel guilty when those cardboard Obama eyes stare you down on your walk to class?