You Bet Your Ass We Can

It turns out, I am actually registered to vote in D.C. Originally, I had only checked my registration status online. I figured, I should call into the Board of Elections and voice my displeasure at their complete incompetence. I would have, except the automated system that they use is an absolute clusterfuck. It runs you around in circles from recorded message to recorded message. Finally, I got a real person on the phone and as I proceeded to voice my complaint she told me that the database hadn’t been working for the past couple weeks and that I should try again. Wouldn’t it have been simpler to, I don’t know, put up some sort of message on the website saying that the database was broken? I mean, how many other people out there were in my position and didn’t bother to call in and were just resigned to being disenfranchised? At any rate, I checked online again and discovered I am indeed registered in the District of Columbia.

Driving on Connecticut Avenue through Cleveland Park and Van Ness this Saturday was basically like driving through Obamaland. It was great. Sign waves on every other block and Obama posters on every light pole. Gets me nostalgic for the times I spent on campaigns. Almost makes me want to go back and do it again. And then I remember the way too many miles I put on my car driving back and forth from Silver Spring to Baltimore and down to way down south Gorgeous Prince Georges County. Like I said, almost.

I’ve been pretty vocal in my support for Barack Obama on this blog. He’s the most used tag according to the tag cloud on the right. I”m sure you all have seen the video that Will.I.Am and Jesse Dylan put together with the help of many musicians, actors and actresses (if not go to www.dipdive.com). I admit, it slightly resembles a Gap commercial and to certain people can come off as a bit cheesy. But, can you imagine Hillary Clinton or John McCain having a video like this? No chance. Not since 9/11 have celebrities come together to create a song/video like this. Admittedly, the starpower for this video is not on the scale of the 9/11 “Tribute to Heroes” song. But that’s besides the point. This video is symbolic of Obama’s campaign in that it brings people together and inspires people. My roommate works in the news division of one of the major networks and works alongside many veterans in the industry, people you would recognize from TV. Many of them say that not since JFK has a candidate created such a buzz and gotten voters so excited about the candidate. These are people who were there in the thick of it and are now here in the thick of it. It isn’t just a fairy tale. It’s very real.

What irks me about this whole thing are the naysayers. I don’t mean the people who are simply supporting Hillary Clinton. In regards to the issues, Hillary and Barack are not that different. Certain small disagreements. But in general, on the issues as a whole, they are not that different. If you want to support Hillary go right ahead. It’s the people in my parent’s generation that looked at every election before this and shook their head at the apathy shown by people my age. But now, that we have come out in force (in some states the youth vote has as much as quadrupled pacing Obama to wins in a few states) in support of Barack Obama, these same people look at us and say that we’re caught up in the hype and we don’t know what we’re voting for. When you were our age, you voted for JFK because he inspired you. Now, we’re voting for Obama because he inspires us and a lot of people in your generation as well. But that hypocrisy isn’t my biggest gripe. What I take issue with most is that these people think we’re voting out of ignorance of the issues. I’m sorry, but many of my peers are far more educated than you about the issues. We are more plugged into the everyday goings on of the country if for no other reason than we are more technologically savvy in this 24 hour news cycle and that we have more free time on our hands.

Scold us for being young and thinking we are invincible. Look down at us for our rash and impulsive decision making. But do not, do not, call us ignorant. Finally there is a candidate who has been able to electrify not just the traditional voting base, but also the younger population. While that is not a good enough reason in and of itself to vote for someone, it is a quality that is seen so rarely from generation to generation. It is most certainly a quality that you would want a president to have.

I’m off to Colorado on Wednesday to get some skiing in. See you suckers when I get back. Breckenridge here I come.