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ABOUT THE QUICK TAKE Every Friday, the Quick Take columnists will offer their views on an issue of significance to American University. Notable members of the campus community will also be invited to contribute to this new feature. Suggestions for topics and other ideas from readers are welcome and encouraged, so please submit comments to edpage@theeagleonline.com. |
The 2008 election was marked by the turnout of young voters. Many had hoped that this would mark the end of the political apathy trademark among twenty-somethings and younger. Yet nearly three years, a recession, a dismal recovery and multiple bouts of congressional paralysis later, an all too familiar malaise of political frustration threatens to smother the idealism that fueled the second highest youth vote turnout in American history. If Obama has lost his charisma and the GOP fail to put forth a captivating candidate, will young voters continue the enthusiasm seen in 2008 or revert back to their traditionally apathetic ways? Our Quick Take columnists and guest writers weigh in:
Derek Siegel
The absurdity of American politics
Karina Zannat
Disgruntled youth hopes for (real) change
Nick Field
The contrasts between 2012 and 2008
Sarah Palazzolo
Practicing the tolerance we preach
The absurbity American politics
By Derek Siegel
Call me the Dos Equis Man. I’m not always in the mood to be impatient, cynical, outraged, and frustrated…but when I am, I just start thinking about politics.
Let me start off by saying I love my country. We’re flawed, certainly, but nobody’s perfect. I still believe in the American dream, that whole nostalgic bit about a man coming from nothing and making a name for himself. I love that. I eat it up! America the Beautiful. The Land of the Free. Even in the midst of a modern, globalized society I still think this is what America’s all about.
I should, by every right, be enamored by our political scene, a democratic system built on individual participation and involvement. But, as of late, I find myself a little less than enamored by American politics. In fact, I sort of hate it. I don’t like Democrats. I don’t like Republicans. And I don’t like it when men and women who claim to be working on my behalf spend most of their time squabbling over petty partisan issues.
When I turn on TV and watch Obama deliver a speech with more rhetoric than substance, when Congress exhausts another session without making any meaningful progress, when I witness political extremism overtake the need for national compromise, I’m pissed. I don’t like it. I have my own little delusion of the American dream, thank you very much, and your failed promises and political rhetoric have no place in it.
I’m an idealistic student at American University. I’m socially involved and am passionate about the state of my country. And I want to be politically active; I want to be the kind of person that feels so vehemently about a candidate that I’ll go door-to-door campaigning and slap a bumper sticker on my laptop. So the fact that I feel so frustrated by our political scene that I’ve essentially become apathetic is a testament to the absurdity of American politics.
I love the fact that so many of my friends at AU are into politics, that they follow all the presidential candidacies and the latest bills to be put before Congress. But personally, I just can’t stand it anymore. So congratulations, America. If alienating passionate youth was your goal, then you have achieved it beyond measure.
Derek Siegel is a freshman in SIS and a Quick Take columnist for The Eagle.
Disgruntled youth hopes for (real) change
By Karina Zannat
I won’t be voting for Barack Obama. I also won’t be voting for whatever reproductive-rights-hating-gay-marriage-skeptic runs against him. And no, I won’t be voting for Ron Paul either. In fact, I’m not voting for anyone, and I’ll encourage my friends to follow suit. At AU, this is blasphemy. It gets me weird looks from everyone, and I’m okay with that because most of the youth (outside of the AU bubble) who actually pay attention will probably share my sentiments.
Why? Because memorizing press releases from the Hill and straw poll figures has nothing to do with paying attention and everything to do with being a slave to the bipolar bullheaded hydra that is the media during elections.
Paying attention means looking at what our politicians actually do and have been doing once they get into power. Paying attention means not making sniveling excuses for the Obama administration when it comes to failed promises about the Drug War, Guantanamo Bay, military interventionism and taking concrete steps against corporatism. Paying attention means not voting for the other guy who has the highest chance of winning because you write off Obama as a socialist/Keynesian (or Kenyan, depending on your mood) because “dadgummit, anyone but Obama.” Paying attention means noticing that the winner has always been the one who watered down their ideology and principles until their lukewarm moderate status won them a good chunk of the large “independent” voter demographic.
Paying attention means realizing that the American voting system is essentially a suggestion box. We have no choice but to endorse the lesser of two horrible choices at the end of the day, and whoever we end up choosing will milk the opportunity to exploit at all costs. Most people who actually pay attention to the facts behind the glittery rhetoric of either camp become apathetic or disgusted, and do something worthwhile on Election Day, like playing Mario Kart. Those who don’t vote can at least shrug and say “don’t blame me” when the next WikiLeaks scandal happens and our politicians are inevitably shown to have messed up big time.
Still, this is AU, home of wanna-be lobbyists, campaign managers, and various other positions that put chills down my spine. A good orator, the kind that can light fire to a soul and inspire you to dream big the way Obama inspired my high school senior self in 2008, will get a lot of buzz from the political junkie youth. Facebook statuses will be updated, Obama 2012 shirts will be bought, GOP lapel pins will be worn, twitter fights will commence, and useless rock-the-vote campaigns will be launched. The few, the loud, and the obnoxious will make a big fuss and fight with each other over their next great leader, but the majority of us will probably not care and silently count the minutes until the day when delusional college students with clipboards won’t hound us near the metro stop.
Karina Zannat is senior a double major in CAS and SIS and a general member of AU Students for Liberty. Her views do not necessarily reflect those of AUSFL as a group.
The contrasts between 2012 and 2008
By Nick Field
You may not have noticed, but we’re rapidly approaching another presidential election season. At this point four years ago, we were all excited about the 2008 race and the candidates involved, yet today there is hardly any excitement about 2012. The most apathetic group of all, of course, is us; the 18 to 24 year-olds that President Obama desperately needs if he hopes to get re-elected.
In 2008, Obama won 66 percent of the youth vote, which was a crucial component of his victory. Perhaps even more important, though, was all the grassroots effort that young people contributed to his campaign, which made up the back-bone of his extraordinary ground game. Among young voters now, however, Obama’s approval rating is just a decent 56 percent. If the President wants to win re-election, he’ll have to find a way to get young voters fired up again.
On the other side of the aisle, Republicans also seem unsatisfied with their slate of candidates. While Romney is widely seen as the candidate with the best chance to win, the conservative base is highly reluctant to embrace the legendary flip-flopper. As a result, conservatives have pushed for, then subsequently abandoned, Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry. But with Perry’s campaign plummeting due to his horrific debate performances, Republicans were frantically calling for New Jersey Governor Chris Christie to get in the race. Yet even if Christie had entered the race – instead of passing earlier this week – Republicans would likely have turned on him as well.
This is because the truth is that all voters are apathetic right now. Which begs the question, can we overcome this apathy in order to positively change our nation? It appears the answer is in New York City, where the primarily young protesters of “Occupy: Wall Street” are showing that we do still care about our country and we know just how much staying involved matters.
Nick Field is a senior in SPA and a Quick Take columnist for The Eagle.
Practicing the tolerance we preach
By Sarah Palazzolo
Let’s be honest, it is admittedly rare to find a self-identified conservative at this school. I recently met and talked to one (who we'll call Steve) about his experience at AU. “A lot of the conservatives here are afraid to speak their mind,” Steve said, because there are definitely some politically liberal students who can be aggressive about their opinions.
Steve explained that he feels like he has to get to know people really well here before he can talk politics with them – which is a shame, because he is good at talking politics. He knows the issues, he is rational, well-articulated and willing to listen to other views. Moreover, he is far from one-sided and appreciates what Obama’s campaign meant for millions of young people.
“One thing about Obama,” Steve said, “it was a social movement.” He watched kids in his high school who had never cared about politics before start to get involved, get out in the community, and learn about how government works, what issues are at stake and how we can address them. That kind of learning doesn’t happen in a classroom. “We need more social movements like this to happen,” he said, “so that kids can wake up and realize that they need to commit to their education.”
Youth did mobilize for Obama in 2008, but contextually it is part of a larger trend of increased youth participation in politics. Youth voter turnout increased 11 percent between 2000 and 2008, and only 2 percent of that increase occurred between 2004 and 2008. So this generation must have started to care before Obama was even in the picture – which means that ideology is not the only factor in motivating youth to participate in politics.
Here at AU, participation in politics is a routine occurrence. “We're politics' loyal fans, not fair weather fans,” says student government President Tim McBride. “I do think it is going to be more challenging to engage young people in 2012 across the map, but I think AU students are the ones who will help mobilize. I think we understand the consequences and are engaged whether its 2004, 2008 or 2012.”
Our challenge in 2012, then, is to empower everyone to use their voice and their vote to engage in the public sphere (not just the Obama campaign). To do that, and encourage young people to commit to our own educations and futures, we as a nation and university need to stop fighting over our differences and practice the tolerance we preach.
Sarah Palazzolo is a freshman in the CAS and a Quick Take columnist for The Eagle.
