OPINION & EDITORIAL
Be a part of history; vote Democratic in this year’s elections
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Also by Oliver Kiefer:
- Assessing a public necessity (January 31, 2008)
- Our future belongs to you: Take it (January 21, 2008)
- LGBT community takes step forward (November 8, 2007)
- Visiting speaker divisive, futile (October 25, 2007)
- GOP overlooks minority voters (October 11, 2007)
Related Stories:
- Cry not, Edwards has sights on 2012 (February 1, 2008)
- Edwards' questionable call (March 28, 2007)
- Additional aid from students needed (September 19, 2005)
- Rebuilding should go beyond houses (September 21, 2005)
- Help for hurricane victims stuck in Iraq (September 15, 2005)
by Oliver Kiefer
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Just before Super Tuesday, former Sen. John Edwards surprised Democrats across the country when he suspended his campaign for the presidency. He ended his campaign where it began, in the streets of New Orleans, where the rebuilding efforts still continue more than two years after Hurricane Katrina shattered the Gulf Coast.
It was a fitting backdrop for a campaign that focused on the plight and poverty of America’s working class, and history will remember Mr. Edwards fondly for the issues he raised and the passion with which he raised them. As he addressed supporters with his family, he stated that, “It is time for me to step aside so that history can blaze its path.”
Watching the Democratic debate in Los Angeles the next evening, the history Mr. Edwards spoke of took center stage. As Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton sat beside each other answering questions from the CNN panelists, one couldn’t help but realize that this election has the potential to be one of the greatest our nation has ever seen.
To be sure, there is much more to candidates than their gender or the color of their skin, but to ignore those factors would deny the significance of this moment, our moment, in time.
I am proud to have two candidates running to represent the Democratic Party who are prepared to lead our country in a new direction, a progressive direction, beginning on day one. Democrats have solutions to the most important problems facing our country, from health care to the war in Iraq; we are the party of possibilities. We want an energy policy that protects our environment and a fiscal policy that balances the budget. Sens. Clinton and Obama support a woman’s right to choose and civil rights for same-sex couples.
But their ability to lead is not the only thing driving people out to vote Democratic in the primaries in record numbers. It’s also their uniqueness, and the historicity of their candidacies. It’s the change they embody, and the future they promise.
It’s an amazing and exciting race on our side of the aisle. The two faces of the Democratic nominees look nothing like any who have lead our nation before.
History is being made by their candidacies. But don’t expect to see that sort of history being made on the Republican side. In fact, you can expect history to repeat itself with what Republicans are offering the American people. Their presumptive nominee, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., is heir apparent to the Bush legacy of failed policies, particularly in the realm of foreign relations and Iraq. There truly can be no better contrast — the change and hope our Democratic candidates offer and our eventual nominee will achieve, juxtaposed with the tired and failed policies of the last seven years. If that isn’t enough to make you vote Democratic next Tuesday, I’m not sure what will.
With a close race on the Democratic side, Wisconsin voters will play a decisive role in deciding who will be the next Democratic presidential nominee. If voter turnout in previous contests this primary season is any indication, Wisconsin voters will turn out in droves to support their candidates.
Over the next five days, I encourage you to attend some of the many campaign rallies and events on our campus. The opportunities to see and experience our future president in person are amazing, and the amount of political activity will be unprecedented. It’s all about what you do next Tuesday, Wisconsin. And with two historic and able candidates — and the stakes higher than ever before — rest assured that the entire world will be watching.
I would like to thank the leaders of Students for Hillary and Students for Obama, student leaders like Erica Buthmann, Stephanie Biese and K.J. Hansmann, as well as Ami Elsharief and Maggie Raiken. Both groups have run wonderful campaigns and are bringing the candidates and their surrogates to engage with students here directly. It’s been an exciting primary season, but every Democrat knows this is all just a precursor.
The real excitement will be in November when a Democrat is elected to the White House.
I ask that you look seriously at each candidate, weigh their policies and their characters, and choose the one you think will best lead our country over the next four years.
Oliver Kiefer (oliver.kiefer@wiscollegedems.org) is chair of the College Democrats.
Anonymous (February 14, 2008 @ 3:20am):
There was a Students for Hillary group??? Since when??
Anonymous (February 14, 2008 @ 7:15am):
Mr. Kiefer, Clinton, and Obama campaigns,
Please stop spamming me with numerous e-mails on your events. Is there some way to get off all the left-wing (and heck, right-wing) campus e-mail lists?
Anonymous (February 14, 2008 @ 9:54am):
"Be a part of history; vote Democratic in this years elections" the title says.
Oliver, are you implying that Democrats will lose this year's elections? If that's the case, then why should we vote Democrat?
Better yet, why should we vote at all? Who's worth voting for anyway?
Anonymous (February 14, 2008 @ 10:20am):
Lots of charismatic leaders have lead their countries to ruin, particularly when the charismatic leader convinced the people to abandon their common sense to the magic of their voice.
Anonymous (February 14, 2008 @ 2:21pm):
Good article, although it would have been better had you stayed away from bringing down John McCain. Although on the surface if may seem that Bush and McCain get along, they actually do not like each other very much. Don't align McCain with Bush because they are in no way on the same level. The Democrats should be thankful that McCain is the nominee because should the Democratic nominee lose the general electio (something that I think is extremely unlikely) McCain is a more centrist politician and one that could bring the country back into a more unified state. If Huckabee or Romney had won the nomination and the general election, we would continue to be just as divided as we are today. Be thankful McCain is the nominee because it signals that no matter what happens we are moving away from Bush.
Anonymous (February 14, 2008 @ 3:54pm):
Barack Obama's cousin Opposition leader Raila Odinga was charged with ethnic cleansing during the slaughter of civilians after the Kenya elections.
Anybody know if Obama's grandmother is still stuck in a little hut in Kenya? Seems that there should be room in Obama's snazzy mansion for grandma.
Anonymous (February 14, 2008 @ 5:37pm):
It isn't that Democrats and Liberals don't know anything. It's just that so much of what they 'know' isn't true. As an example, consider the 'qualifications' of their front running candidate Barack Hussein Obama.
If the Democrats collectively decide to support a presidential candidate with
1)no significant State or Federal experience in managing economies,
2)no International Affairs experience,
3)no Military experience,
4)no Business experience, and
5)no practical experience as a Senator (other than 6 years of running for President)
that is their choice, albiet a poor one.
What Barack Hussien Obama lacks in durable experience and common sense, he makes up for in vacuous 'American Idol' appeal and rhetoric without substantive support. That is poor qualification for President of the United States of America by any standard, even a Liberals.
I too ask that you look seriously at each candidate, weigh their qualifications and characters, and choose the one best prepared to lead our country through the next '9-11' attacks, recessions, and natural disasters while maintaining the essential commitment and troops necessary to destroy Al Queda and like-minded terrorist groups where ever we find them.
While I thoroughly disagree with most of the socialist positions espoused by Democrats and their candidates et.al., I'll defend to the death their right to say them. God Bless America, her service men and women, and the unappreciative citizens they defend.
Respectfully,
An Educated, Observant, and Pragmatic Conservative
Anonymous (February 14, 2008 @ 5:42pm):
Yeah, I could vote for Barack because he's black or Hillary because she's a woman. I could also swallow nickels until I set the Guinness record. I'm really not sure which is the best way to make history. Swallowing nickels would at least be empowering, because my actions would make a difference, and I wouldn't be picking an unqualified new master.
*going to the bank to get change*
Anonymous (February 14, 2008 @ 9:08pm):
why did silky pony continue to take matching fed funds for so long after it was obvious he couldn't win?
i thought he cared about the impoverished.
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