“Don’t Boo. Vote.”: Why I Took President Obama’s Advice and You Should Too.

The logistics of politics can be so complex that politicians themselves don’t even understand all of the ramifications.  They have layered staffs of legislative experts and seasonal interns to help brief them on the most important issues that they’ll encounter.  

Businessmen, alike, struggle to find a connection between all parties affected by the legislation.  Lobbyist work to find common ground; yet work towards their respective objectives.  

Truthfully, the general constituency isn’t clear on how most of it all works.  Grade schools don’t altogether teach people how to file taxes, about interest rates on college loans, buying vs. renting, state vs. federal laws and how it all goes back to the political hemisphere.   It takes real life experience to apply these things and a multitude of different experiences to decipher the best plan for us all.  Hence, politics.  

People are confused and conflicted by politics.  It’s subjective and objective in its own right.  Our ignorance to some political statutes is bliss most days, months and years even, but it's not when it’s time for us to vote.   We seek to understand issues better, and we hope to hear 4-8 term year solutions to problems.  We hope to obtain this information by all means necessary: social media, news, debate parties and more. Do we get what we are looking for?  During many election seasons, we still don’t get the depth we need to vote efficiently or even at all.  Therefore, I compel you to just vote.  Vote based off of whatever correlation you find your conscience conforms too.  

The first time I voted at the young age of 18, it was a symbolic choice.  I didn’t care how my vote would affect my healthcare choices, tax status or educational advancement opportunities.  Honestly, I didn’t know enough to have even derived a thought that way.  I’d listened to my peers, watched a few debates and studied history.  That’s how I made my choice.  

As children, we gravitate towards a happily ever after.  I knew when I voted for the first time, for our first black president that it would serve as a good ending to a fictional story that never had such a protagonist character before.   We all won when the world was able to see the value of the educated, dynamic black family.  

Regardless if President Obama’s administration could help me personally, I knew he could help the world in need of a visionary.  He turned out to be more than that.  

So, I voted.  And, I will vote again not solely for these reasons because my life experiences have taught me I should be concerned about much more.  But, I will tell you that I’m really excited about having another happy ending symbolically if nothing else; a woman president.  Hillary Clinton.  

I’m with Oprah, when she told T.D. Jakes, “She’s not coming over to your house — you don’t have to like her.  Do you like this country? You better get out there and vote. Do you like freedom and liberty? Okay. Do you like democracy or do you want a demagogue?”

So with this blog, I urge you to vote your conscience this time too.  If you don’t altogether understand how your taxes and health care are affected by politics, that’s okay.  Again, politics are complex.  There’s not enough research done and not enough time in the day to do it. 

You should vote on the premise of what compels you to vote.  We’re all compelled to some direction so don't say not anything entices you to vote.  CNN recently wrote an article entitled, “ Too Young to Vote, but not too young to hope?”  It was about a group of adolescents who were asked what issues they would’ve liked the candidates to talk more about.  Perhaps, some of us should take notes on how these students correlate their interest and how they would vote if they could.  

Rebecca Davenport, back in May, said she may be too young to vote but she wasn't too young to worry about climate change.  "I don't think it was in any way addressed like it should have been, even less so than I expected it to be," said Davenport, a senior. "The fact that that hasn't been addressed is so detrimental to the future of our country."

Ana Caravela, a junior, who lost her uncle in the September 11 attacks, said the nation's security and protecting veterans should be the top issues for the next president. (Her brother is attending the U.S. Naval Academy.)

She feels the candidates could be talking more about what they would do to help veterans.  "I think we need to focus on them (veterans) a little bit more than on focusing on people who aren't even in the country yet," said Caravela. "The people that are fighting for us we should be focusing on because they're trying to support us, so I think they deserve the best."

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