Presidential Perspectives

Hey Tartans. Today, I decided that instead of an update, I would offer an actual perspective, as the title of this section suggests.

Over break, illness and the lack of a car relegated me to staying home and making the most of the three bedrooms and bathrooms around me. This resulted in a lot of TV, meaning a rigorous, 10-hour schedule of CNN and Fox News election coverage. Because of this, I’ve developed conspiracy theories about candidates, and I may or may not have charted primary performance with several kinds of graphs. I’ll freely admit that I’m kind of lame and a bit of a political junkie.

However, what has been particularly inspiring is that, since coming back to campus, I’ve found that a number of people around me have been paying attention to the election coverage as well. It’s pretty awesome to be walking down the street and seeing a couple coming back from a dinner date discussing the differences in Obama’s and Romney’s economic plans.

As you all probably know, our age group has been disregarded as an apathetic part of the American population in the past. What’s so interesting this time around is the amount of attention our generation is paying, and not in the fake MTV, “Rock the Vote”/“Vote or Die” at the hand of Puff Daddy/Puffy/P. Diddy and Jay-Z/Sean/S. Carter way, but in the critical, debate-watching way.

I would like this to continue. In my eyes, voting without knowledge of the candidates and issues is an irresponsible thing to do. Instead, real information should inspire a decision. We are the best and brightest in the country, and we pride ourselves on that. Let’s get the information, and let’s make decisions. This has been called the most important election in history. I believe it will be; and it looks as though, this time around, the rest of our generation agrees.

If you have any input, feel free to e-mail me at cmu5@cmu.edu, as always.