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Send Republicans packing
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Like you, I am a young voter. We are part of a generation that cyclically faces the stigma of being disinterested, disillusioned and disconnected. Youth are lazy. Youth are apathetic. Young people don’t pay attention to current affairs or politics. Though I’ve always been engaged with the community and world around me, this is the first time in my life that I can really taste the relevance of an election. What in previous years might have been more of an academic flexing of my ideology is now somehow more real. This time, it’s personal.
Our senses have been assaulted by the barrage of election-related messages. It’s been sensory overload with the TV and radio ads, articles, debates, punditry and speechifying. Sure, we have been saturated by sound bites and slogans, but when you peel away the layers of rhetoric — thrust upon us by both sides — you’re left with a handful of very simple truths.
Our bank accounts have been hit hard. Massive increases in college tuition fees have really burdened us and our families. College tuition has gone up nationwide thanks to Republican policies that have bankrupted states and forced them to balance budgets on the backs of students. Wisconsin students have faced unprecedented tuition hikes in the past few years, and nationwide public college/university costs have risen from $7,813 to $10,636. Four-year private college/university costs have risen from $19,866 to $26,854. People our age are carrying more debt than the youth of any past generation, and we’re drowning in it.
Most of us are concerned about cash. We worry about getting or losing a job, paying bills and having money for emergencies, not to mention the unaffordable (and rising) cost of health care. For the first time in my life, I’ve felt the visceral fear of being uninsured. Unemployment rates for our age group are as much as twice as high as those of older adults. Wages for younger women have declined by 3.1 percent over the past year, while wages among men increased by 4.9 percent. In July, the jobless rate for African-American youth hit a historic high, and the rate for Latino youth was among an all-time worst. We aren’t too young to worry about the economy and our own finances.
Every one of us knows people who have been sent to fight in a war they didn’t ask for. We were lied to about weapons of mass destruction — they were never found and the documents they used as evidence were obviously fraudulent. While we were struggling with daily pressing issues like education, housing, healthcare and employment, the Republicans spent a horrifying $120 billion on an unjust war that so far has claimed the lives of roughly 15,000 Iraqi civilians and over a thousand of our soldiers. I, for one, can’t imagine how much more we or the world can stand.
While many candidates have touted the importance of youth participation and aggressively courted our votes, their actions speak louder than words. In a recent act of unmitigated gall, the College Republicans mailed a literature piece to the UW residence halls containing confusing information about campus polling locations. It can only be surmised as an intentional move to suppress the student vote — as if we needed another example of how the Republicans will do whatever it takes to pillage their way to victory.
We won’t let the Republicans have it both ways. Young people overwhelmingly understand that electing Democrats and progressives are the right choice for those of us who have weathered the destructive policies of the Republicans, and who desire so passionately a better world.
Our vote — the so-called young generation — is as critical a factor as the hyped battleground states. You and I hold in our hands the power to alter the course of US domestic and foreign policy with the casting of our ballots tomorrow. And I think we should do it. Not because it’s our democratic right. Not because both parties are begging us to. Not because it’s cool.
We’re voting for our lives. The Republicans must be fired. We need to elect a government of people who give a shit about what we go through. Don’t sit this one out, ok? Vote tomorrow — it’s time to take things personally.
Adam Klaus
Madison, Wisconsin
State Director, Young Voter Alliance
Chair, Associated Students of Madison, 1999-2000
adam@youngvoteralliance.org
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Nice job, Adam!
way to go adam. it's nice to see you're back in wisconsin. keep fighting the good fight.
Good job!! You speak the truth. Young people have their whole lives before them and need an administration that is concerned about the future of our country and them.
Oh yes, I remember Adam. He had the distinction of being banned from ASM for two years after heading up and participating in a full year of corruption on that organization.
http://www.asm.wisc.edu/student_judiciary/Cases/2000ASMSJ2.pdf
Sorry Adam, Republicans aren't anywhere near as corrupt as you and your Unity pals on ASM were.
Adam - what does the cost of private college tuition have to do with your argument? Those schools are not funded by the government, and according to your kind of folk, are just full of priveleged white kids anyways...why not stick it to 'em? Also, perhaps the fact private education costs have risen should lead you to the conclusion that rising public tuition costs are simply a reflection of the market for education, and the not the result of Republicans bankrupting the states.
The concern about jobs and un/underemployment is a legitimate one, as everyone's livelihood and ability to make a living is cause for concern. Although the unemployment rate right now is the same as it was under Clinton in 1996 right before that election (5.4%), and everyone was praising Clinton for the job he did with the economy; perhaps a double standard?
About your third point on the war, what evidence do you have regarding the "fraudulent" intelligence on the WMD? The Rathergate memo is a classic example of something that was "obviously fraudulent." World intelligence sources, which John Kerry had access to and made the decision to authorize the use of force based on that same data, were not intentionally misleading anyone. Were they wrong? Most likely...does that mean that the President lied? Absolutely not...lying involves intentionally misleading someone based on the fact that you have information contrary to your statement.
I am part of that young generation that will help form the backbone of this country in the years to come. 25 years old and a graduate of UW...surprisingly I was able to find employment 5 months after 9/11, have had healthcare coverage the entire time, and all of my friends have been able to do the same. My wife graduated 18 months ago, and she had no problems finding employment either. As a matter of fact, I can't think of anyone I know that graduated from school and wasn't able to find a job within 2 months of graduating...weird then that John Kerry and the Democrat lackeys would lead me and others to believe that our lives have been turned on their end due to the policies of George Bush and the Republicans. Speaking from experience, I can tell you that this doom-and-gloom story concocted by Adam, Kerry, and the Dems is the most obviously fraudulent claim that I have seen during this election season.
Way to go, Adam!
We need the youth of America to get out the vote---you kids are going to make all the difference.
Thanks :-)
Laurie
Detroit, MI
Way to go Anonymous...we need to get the young people of this country to get and vote - Republican!!!
Thanks :-)
Jack
Grand Rapids, MI
Well written, thought-provoking, turly a tour de force. Oh wait, this editorial? Yeah, it was good, too.
Adam Klaus is back? Christ, this takes me back. ASM passing resolutions on bombing in Kosovo, wasting our money, spending Seg Fees on every liberal group you could think of. How soon until I get to read more mindless drivel from the starts of the late 90's like Becky Wasserman and Ben Manski?
I received a mailing from Adam Klaus' "Young Voter Alliance" warning of "Green Jacketed Republicans trying to prevent me from voting on election day."
Will I be able to identify Klaus by his tinfoil hat?
Even if we filled all elected offices with 100% democrats, tuition would not magically decrease, wages would not magically increase, unemployment would not dissappear and 9/11 would still have happened.
So the President isn't to blame for cherrypicking intelligence to suit his desired outcome? Isn't the burden of proof for the WMD on the side that invaded the damn country? Isn't this the sort of issue where uncertainty isn't acceptable?
If you apply the "Bush standard" of intelligence by which we invaded Iraq, is there any non-Western democracy that we couldn't, no shouldn't invade?
Find me a credible defender of the Bush's administration's WMD claims. Look at all of the folks who resigned from W's administration because of it. Look at David Kay's report. Look at the recent report by Duefler (sp).
Even if the president wasn't lying about it--and I agree that "lying" isn't the proper term--shouldn't you hold him responsible for the screw-up? And if not, what does that say about you and your party?
Adam, you simply are a fucking loser. You have no idea what you are talking about and non-suprisingly won't even mention how the democrats are the ones that are supporting voter fraud. The democrats are running a campaign based on fear by trying to convince the blacks that the Republicans are trying to supress their vote by questioning all of the fraudenlant absentee ballots and voter registrations. In Milwaukee, for example, there are over 5,000 questionable voter registrations and the liberal city government won't do anything because they know that voter fraud helps John Kerry. If all of you want our country to go to hell, then vote for John Kerry. Listening to a brainwashed loser like this guy will only hurt our country. I challenge all of you liberals in Madison to step out of the bubble and enter the real world. Only then will you realize that we need to re-hire George W. Bush.
Holding Bush responsible for a screw up is much different than labeling him a liar. The former is a mistake that someone can learn from, the latter is a character flaw that points to many problems down the road. Everyone makes mistakes, not everyone lies - like say, President Clinton.
So when Bush said, for example, that the Medicare plan would cost a certain amount, knowing that the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office said it would cost 20% more, he wasn't lying?
This guy is a perfect example of the importance of a PRIVATE education system
Yeah, when Clinton lied about that BJ, boy, the country really went to hell.
Fine--it's a screw-up. Just like the utter and complete lack of war planning, the lack of exit strategy, the lack of attention (or capability) to secure dangerous sites, disbanding the Iraqi army, living in Saddam's former palaces, etc. etc. etc.
Does competence become an issue at some point? Do you really expect me to believe that if a Democratic president had done these exact things, the Republican machine wouldn't be after him with their full force and fury?
As for the poster four lines up--you think the Democrats planted racist fliers to depress their own turnout, so that they could claim the Republicans did it? Really?
Seriously.
Republicans are using faulty voter lists to serve as their basis for challenging folks, and then trying to drag them to court even though their information is wrong. The Federal Courts have struck this crap down in Ohio last week and today. Electoral fraud cuts both ways, but right now, it appears the Republicans have the greater share.
that's an A paper!
"Those schools are not funded by the government, and according to your kind of folk, are just full of priveleged white kids anyways..."
Aw, whatsamatta? Don't like the fact that rich white families won't put their kids in a problem-ridden public university? Too bad, you poor oppressed minority kid. I, a rich white kid, do not care. Why should I, especially since you kids at the public schools are so unruly. Maybe that's why you can't get a decent paying job after graduation.
You go to college for an education and you end up partying your guts out, whereas we rich white kids graduate on time with better grades and much better job prospects. Go ahead and wallow in your own vomit while we move on to bigger and better things. Continue to live in utter misery while we laugh hysterically at your mediocrity, pathetic losers! Bush in '04!
To the above poster...
Ah, you're back. The guy who hates both drinking AND public universities, possibly the sorriest combination of misplaced hatred I've ever seen on a message board. Our Founding Fathers loved the drink. What's the matter, unpatriotic?
But seriously, you've already earned your rating of toolshed, first class. Go do something else--play in a woodchopper, or torture your peers on the blog at your private school.
Sorry, I know, don't feed the troll...
Brilliant!
Thank you Adam.
Simon Rusk
As the anonymous republican posters have proven once again; they are simply uninformed, messenger attacking, fools.
Thank you for exposing yourselves for what you are.
Simon Rusk
P.S.
I attended a private school and I am proud to say not only that I drank my guts out but olso that I am unruly. Finally, is it possible that rich white kids get jobs not because of their hard work and dedication, but because of their Daddies? see e.g. George W. Bush.
Kerry will win big tomorrow.