November 2
Ok, so I had this really long post about why I think everyone should vote, and why I'm voting for Kerry, and now I've lost it. I guess I'll try to recreate some of it.

Please vote. I'm tired of my generation being looked at as apathetic, lazy and uninvolved. I'm sure every group of people in their college years is looked at in this way, but maybe if enough of us go vote we can manage to change this perspective. Besides, I don't care what George Carlin says, you have no right to complain about some of the idiots in Washington if you don't vote. You have no right to bitch about laws if you do nothing to have your voice heard. I know in a presidential election this is harder to see because of the electoral college and all, but please, just watch the debate on Wednesday, see who looks like the best leader to you and vote for them.

Also, as one of the posts that I had here says, just keep in mind, we're not voting for a prom king, but a president. It doesn't matter how nice he seems, or how good looking he is. Vote for the one that you think will make the best "leader of the free world."

Now, onto who I am voting for, which if you haven't picked up on it by now is John Kerry. Here's a few reasons why, in no particular order.

1. I like that he feels a leader should be able to admit when they make a mistake. I don't know if he can actually do it, but I know that Bush in the debates has made this quality into some kind of a weakness. I see being able to say you were wrong and start to fix a problem as a great strength. From what Bush has had to say, he views this as a weakness.

2. I am going to be a teacher. In searching through debate transcripts, Kerry/Edwards talked more about education and what they plan to do with it. Bush did not mention education that I could find, and Cheney only talked about what they had done, and not what they planned on doing.

3. I have not head Bush say what he plans on doing in the next four years, only what he has done in the last four. And this does not help to convince me, as I do not like many of the things that have happened over the last four. Maybe this should serve as a resume for me to review, but please tell me where you plan to go from here! I have however heard many plans from Kerry.

4. Speaking of the last four years, I do not like the way Bush has run a great many things. I do not like how our country has been viewed since he took office. He did have many great moments after September 11, but they were not in policy or decision making, but in comforting a nation that was hurting. For this I thank him, but it still does not change the my mind.

5. After the admittedly brief review of Kerry's positions on things, I do not see the "flip-flopping" that Bush claims is happening. Instead I see a man who does not vote for bills that he only agrees with part of. In the debates Kerry cited that he voted no on the now infamous 87 billion for our troops because he did not think the bill provided specific enough instruction as to where that money was to be spent. Also, on the issue of abortion, he voted no on requiring parental consent for all abortions, not because he thinks all girls no matter the age should be able to abort babies every time the make a mistake, but because the bill did not make any allowance for what I will call "special cases". Are you really going to as a young girl raped by her father to ask that same man for permission to abort that baby?? I think not.

6. Speaking of abortion, I do not agree with Bush's view of all or nothing. (This seems to be a theme when I think of things I do not like about Bush.) Some issues do have grey areas that need to be addressed. After the debate on Friday, it seemed to me that Kerry felt this way, but that Bush did not.

7. I do not agree with Bush's stance on gay marriage. Right or wrong, going with the bible or against, I do not think this is something that we can have written into our constitution. To me it boils down to writing discrimination in to our nations most highly regarded document. Telling one group of people that because of something about them they are not allowed to do something that all other citizens are allowed to do. Not because they have done something that by the laws of our country is wrong, but simply because of they way they are.

8. I did not vote for him last time. I do not like what he's done while he's been in office. Why would I vote for him now.

9. For the cost of one pair of his cowboy boots I could pay back all of my student loans. (ok this really has no bearing on my vote, but really did shock me.)

10. I do not feel like the world is a safer place because of things that he has done. Sure, he has captured Saddam and I'm happy about that, but what of Bin laden? Isn't that who bombed us and continues to put us on high alert every few weeks? I would like to travel abroad, but am more scared to do so now than when Clinton was in office.

Ok, enough for now. And I'd love to hear comments from those who do not agree. Not so that I can shoot you down, but so that I can become further educated in my decision. Maybe my vote doesn't really in the grand scheme of things count, but I'd like to know that when I tried, I did so knowing everything that I could have about the decision I was making.