I asked myself this question back in March during the primary. I know I am only seventeen and I am to young to vote so what could I do. I wanted to do what I could to elect democrats. I wanted to help erase eight years of failed Bush policys.
I decided that I could vote, not at a poll booth, not with an absentee ballot, and not on election day. I could vote with my time and energy and I set out to do so.
In the summer after I finished school I began to volunteer for Bill O'Neill for Congress in OH-14
I did this because the Republican Congressman, Steve LaTourette had been in Washington for fourteen years, he has voted with the failed policys of the Bush administration over ninety percent of the time, he is a senior member of the financial services committee in congress and yet he has voted to de-regulate the banks and took over a million dollars from the banks and financial institutions.
I did this because his Democratic challenger Bill O'Neill will bring a new face to Washington. Bill will vote to end the war, he will sponsor legislation to create healthcare that all Americans can afford, he will support renewable energy the will help wean our dependence on foreign oil.
(check out his website)
I volunteered every day for the campaign. I worked all through the summer and into the fall doing what ever was needed to be done, research, mailings, shredding, and etc. As time went on I got more responsibility and began to feel that I was really doing something in this election. It was a happy day for me when the campaign manager gave me a staffing position and made me responsible for parts of the campaign. Then of course school intervened which of course limited my time, but I kept working after school and on the weekends. Now it seems that I spend more time at work then at school or at home, much to the distress of my parents.
On November 4th as my fellow Americans go out to vote I will not be distressed that I can not vote, I will be proud that I did my part. On election day I will be doing my part to ensure that our next President, Barack Obama, has a Democratic Congress to back him up.