Don't Vote For Me

I've been thinking about race a lot lately. As a college student, I have heard plenty about the 2008 Presidential Election, but unlike many of my friends and acquaintances I am not jaded into thinking the world is going to "Change" on January 21st. Although I did not vote this past November (for a number of reasons - that's another blog...) I reserve the right to complain about the process in my own blog.

When looking at the candidates, John McCain and Barack Obama, it was easy to delineate pure evil from just another politician. Upon analyzing platforms and issues John McCain appeared as a war-mongering George Bush Jr. with the personality of an arm-chair. Barack Obama seemed to base his campaign on idealistic reform and an unrealistic 6-month plan. They're both politicians, they both lie to our faces, they will both react to situations based on surrounding circumstances rather than campaign promises made 2 years prior.... whatever...

Barack Obama ran on a platform of "Change." This is a BRILLIANT move... with the amount of people upset about the way George W. Bush handled the last 8 years, young and old alike flock to this innocuous slang. But what is "Change"? Really... what is it? Is change bringing the troops home from Iraq? Fixing our doomed economy? Creating jobs? Or does Change mean that Barack Obama is black?

I am shocked at the amount of people I have met who voted for Barack Obama for the purposes of not voting for John McCain and "because he's black... and it's about time..." Voting for the president of the United States should be based on issues: Not the flaws in another's arguments, not to avoid "more of the same" and certainly not for the color of someone's skin. Regardless of how monumental this election was, voting for a candidate because of the color of his skin is a prejudice notion.

Is it about time America had a black president? I don't know... as far as I know, racism still exists and probably will for a while. What I find hard to wrap my mind around is that young adults are very adamant about getting involved in the process and being part of something special. Where that's wonderful, and certainly a step in the right direction, we need to be more focused: We need to not only be involved in the process - but we need to know WHY we are involved in the process. Are we involved because we are familiar with the candidates policies and understand what their plans for the future are? Or are we involved because we are idealistic and become aroused every time a buzz word is dropped?

Lobbying for a presidential candidate is productive and necessary, but the type of devotion shown by Obama supporters was not deserved based on his policies. One might infer that the historic implications of a black president influenced supporters that much more....