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The Clarion
Senuttg the Breiujrd College commuuHy iiince 1935
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Opinion
Why Vote?
By Adam Beeson
On November 2nd millions of young
Americans, like myself, will be heading to the
polls to cast a vote for the presidential
candidate of their choice. In fact, over 20
million people between the ages of 18 and 25
are registered to vote in this election, an
astonishing number considering only a little
over 17 million of us voted in 2000. That’s
great, but do we really know what we are
voting for?
I asked ten Brevard College students whom
they were voting for and why they were
voting for this person. Eight out of these ten
people simply did not answer my question.
Eight out of these ten people told me why
they were NOT voting for the other candidate
based on his image, personality, or something
they heard from a friend, parent, teacher, or
newscast.
So, we know what we do not want in a
president. Wonderful. But I was still curious
as to why people were voting for the
candidate of their choice. Do they like his
foreign policy? Do they like his economic
plan? Maybe they think he will keep our
country safe from horrifying terrorists like
Cat Stevens. We know what we don’t like in
one candidate, but what do we like in the
other?
It didn’t take long before I came to the
conclusion that most of the American people
want to be included in the election of our
president, but they don’t want to make the
effort to find a candidate who they truly
support.
Too often, we believe what we hear from the
people around us and, trust me; it’s not easy
to know the difference between fact and
fiction. The bottom line is, 90% of Americans
simply follow the lead that they are given and
do not form opinions for themselves.
As part of the educated elite, students on this
campus must understand what they stand for
Question Of The Week:
What matters more to
you in a Presidential
candidate, policy or
persona?
Rod Fincannon
"At this point, probably
policy. I don't care too
much for the personas of
either one of them. I'm
more concerned about
foreign policy and who
has the better policy."
Sarah Carlson
"Policy... but ya know,
whatever they say, I don't
believe them anyway, so I
don't actually know what
their policy is. But I like
Kerry over Bush."
Andy Grizzell
"I would say policy
would definitely rank
higher with me than
persona, knowing that
they can go ahead and get
the job done instead of
doing what they feel they
need to do but what they
actually do. I like the
http://www.brevard.edu/clarion/opinion.html 6/13/2005