Although a longtime Kossack, this is my first diary. My frustration at the closeness of this election has prompted me to share a letter I wrote to my son and his friends to stress the urgency of their vote in November-- just three critical talking points that need to be put across. I hope that other Kossacks will agree and send this message to all of the young people they know who are of voting age.
This has been an exciting election season, full of historic implications. It has been particularly gratifying to see the involvement of so many young people in the political process. For the first time since the 1960’s we have seen a resurrection of the belief among the young that you can change the direction of our country. Your spirit, energy and engagement are desperately needed in order to address the many complex challenges we face in the years ahead.
Despite a promising and uplifting start, this campaign season has turned into one of the nastiest in history. The entrenched Republican power structure that has brought us a failing economy and mired our country in an unnecessary and cripplingly expensive war is fighting hard against the forces of change. They are willing to lie, cheat and steal in order to win this election. The lies are evident every day in their advertising and false claims of media bias. The cheating is demonstrated by their attempts to misdirect potential voters by sending out absentee ballot applications with incorrect return information. The stealing is being set up by voter suppression efforts being carried out all across the country. In every state, young, poor, and minority voters are being targeted in order to prevent them from voting. Everything from requiring state-issued ID cards to touch screen voting machines that leave no paper trail to last-minute changes in polling locations are all designed to reduce the vote from constituents likely to favor the Democratic ticket. These efforts MUST be stopped!
Our founding fathers believed that an informed electorate is the bedrock of democracy. If we truly had an independent press, they would be loudly condemning these Republican tactics. Unfortunately, the media has been cowed by the claims of media bias and are not really taking them on. The same thing happened in the run-up to the Iraq war and we all know how that turned out! As citizens, we should be very concerned about the concentration in media ownership that has been championed under Republican administrations over the past few decades. The owners of these media conglomerates limit the scope of news that reaches the American public and favor simplistic commentary over in-depth analysis. As a result, our citizens are poorly informed about world events – and many have little knowledge of what is happening in parts of our own country.
Today, the United States stands at a crossroads. On the one hand, we can elect Republican leaders who will continue the failed policies that will further cripple our economy and leave our country more isolated in the world. On other hand, we can move forward with Democratic leadership that acknowledges the domestic and global issues of our time and is willing to engage our citizens in developing innovative solutions. Although this would seem to be an obvious choice, it appears that the election will be very close. Because the youth vote has the potential to be a deciding factor, I am requesting that you consider three important reasons that you should cast your ballot for Barack Obama and Joe Biden on November 4th.
• The Republicans have mortgaged your future – and will continue to do so! The combination of their economic policies (e.g. deregulation, tax cuts that favor wealthy individuals and corporations, free trade, etc.) and the expenses associated with fighting wars on multiple fronts have led to record deficits. The gap between government revenues and expenses has been financed by borrowing – in effect, placing the burden of repayment directly on the shoulders of our children and grandchildren. At the same time, Republicans have strongly advocated against government investment in public education, social "safety net" programs and infrastructure. These policies have helped to weaken the very fabric of our society – making it harder for families to pay their medical bills, educate their children, buy a home, travel safely on our roads and bridges, or be protected from natural disasters. Once again, the costs of correcting these problems will largely be borne by future generations. As young adults today, you already face the prospect of being the first generation in U.S. history that will not be able to count on doing better economically than your parents’ generation. There is no reason to believe this situation will improve if the Republican ticket is elected since they favor continuing the same policies that got us into this mess in the first place.
• The Republicans will limit your choices – and will use the Supreme Court to enforce their agenda! The highest court in the land was created to protect the rights of citizens to enjoy the freedoms provided by the Constitution of the United States. To ensure judicial independence, justices received life appointments so they could make decisions without concern for political consequences. Over time, the life tenure also helped to provide a balance of views on the court since appointments were made by presidents of varying political persuasions. This balance is in imminent danger of being overturned due to the advanced age of the moderate-liberal judges currently sitting on the Court – which could give the next president the opportunity to appoint as many as four judges. The Republican party and their current presidential candidate have made it crystal clear that they favor using the Court to further a conservative social agenda. The impact of these next appointments on your adult life cannot be understated because the justices will likely serve for the next 25-30 years. If the Republicans win in November and get the chance to pack the Court, we can look forward to reversals of hard-won gains in terms of women’s and minority group rights, support for policies that impose fundamentalist Christian religious beliefs on others, limits on reproductive freedom, continued efforts to suppress first amendment rights (public dissent) and further erosion of protections for workers and the environment.
• The Republicans will revive the military draft – you can count on it! Today, the vast majority of young adults who have the resources to pursue higher education do not choose military service – leaving this option to those who have few alternatives to better their economic prospects. With an all-volunteer military, the burden of service falls disproportionately on individuals from lower socio-economic groups, which are no longer producing the numbers required to support current needs. Military enlistments are at record lows, leading to multiple tours of duty for existing personnel. People who joined the reserves in order to supplement their income or fund their education have suddenly found their lives disrupted by multi-year deployments. With no end in sight, is it any wonder that people are not rushing to the military recruitment offices to sign up? Every reliable military expert – both Democratic and Republican – have indicated that our country does not have the manpower to sustain wars on multiple fronts. With a Republican ticket that promises to continue the belligerent foreign policy of the Bush administration, the likelihood of additional military engagements with no clear objectives or exit strategy is very high – and the only way to ensure the supply of necessary personnel would be to draft young adults (both male and female).
So there you have it. The choice is yours to make. I sincerely hope that you will vote as if your future depends on it – because it does!