Photo Credit: Carolyn Kaster/AP
In 2008, millions of newly registered, young Americans fled to the polls to assist in the election of the first African-American President, Barack Obama. Four years later, the disillusionment has disappeared, morale has leveled off, and reality has set in: even Barack Obama could not make a miracle happen in four years. With years of work still to do, and many goals still out of rehab, the support bestowed upon President Obama by young Americans is set to stand a test of severe consequences.
President Obama’s opponent in the upcoming election, Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, argues that the nation is headed in the wrong direction. Promoting “traditional” family values, economic deregulation and social conservatism, Romney argues that he is fit to “restore the greatness of America.”
This “restoration” of America that Romney sees necessary implies that there is something wrong in our nation that can be solved with the tired rhetoric and traditionalism of the Republican Party, which failed our nation during the Bush era.
As President John F. Kennedy once said, “There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured with what is right in America.” What is right in America is our youth – brave, determined and full of new ideas and ways to approach problems that have plagued our country generation after generation. From this standpoint, it is unimaginable that a man vying to lead us has written off so many of us, either because of our reliance on government aid to stay afloat, our age, or our sexual orientation.
Young Americans with an investment in their future and their best interests in mind should consider supporting and re-electing President Barack Obama. President Obama has worked tirelessly since the day that he was elected to improve our generation’s chances at making our nation and world a safer, equal and
sustainable place to live for years to come.
Tightening up regulations on the abusive and reckless practices of Wall Street is imperative for a modern economy often at the whim of powerful brokers and CEOs. Ensuring these Wall Street officials will not use the American economy as their personal playground will ensure job creation in the United States and diminish the likelihood of another market crash.
With job creation, education and investment in the future anchoring President Obama’s policies, young Americans can be assured that the guy in the White House is willing to give an ear to their concerns and swift action to their needs.
Recently, Romney commented on President Obama’s foreign policy in the Middle-East, “hope is not a strategy.”
Romney is right.
Hope is not a strategy. It is a belief.
Hope is a conviction, a core truth that some hold dear to in times of calamity, grief and hardship.
Hope, unlike the fear-mongering and misinformation that seeps from the Romney campaign, does not divide, it unites.
This November, youths across the country must raise their voices once again for a president who has done
the same for them for the last four years.
It’s time to remind Romney that this nation and its young people are not corporations to be “fixed.”
We can, we did, and we can only hope to do it again.
