Obama & the Youth: The REAL Reason We're Inspired

Apathy.

A word we haven't heard in a while. It used to be the word we most often associated with youth when it came to politics. It used to be that those few of us that actually voted were seen as the anomaly. The conventional wisdom was that my generation was just not interested in the welfare of the country. Or, perhaps we were to cynical to believe that our votes or our voices really mattered. And if we weren't apathetic enough, a good way to continue the trend is eight years of Bush, a couple of dubious elections (one where are votes really didn’t matter- just those of supreme court justices), corruption, war, scandals, and well, you know the rest.
Bush. Clinton. Bush. Our lives have been defined by these three men. Most of my life has been about war. Clinton gave us some stability and even prosperity, but I most remember the impeachment. And trust me, for the Bush administration to define most of your life is not a good thing. I was 13 on 9/11. Ever since then, Bush has governed by fear.

Hope.

All of us need it, but we, the youth, need it the most. I love politics, so do a lot of people I know. But I’m not exactly sure why I do. The entire time I’ve been interested in politics (between the very end of Clinton’s term to now) I have been disappointed in our system. I think the 2006 election was the first time I’ve ever been truly happy about something that has happened in politics; the second time was January 3, 2008 (I’ll get to that in bit).

But I’m a political junkie. I came from a political family. My Aunt was part of the Clinton Administration. So I guess that is why I became interested in politics. Yet all I’ve really lived through is disappointment.
Barack Obama’s 2004 DNC speech was something I had never seen before: inspiration. I had never in my life been inspired by a politician, until then. But if your thinking that this speech was what made me want him to be president, you’re wrong.
2008.

After the 2004 loss, I quickly turned my attention to 2008, hoping we would have a candidate that could really win this time. My candidate was Mark Warner. I remember back to the DNC chairman “race” when Markos posted a roundup of the possible contenders. I hadn’t heard of most of them, but after doing my research I began to read up on Warner, and soon came to see him as our best candidate for 2008.
When Warner decided not to run, I was disappointed, yet I remained optimistic that we would have many fine candidates from which to choose. It was then that Barack Obama surprised me and decided that he wouldn’t wait around in the Senate and he would join the race.

Obama.

Obama fascinated me, but he was not instantly my choice. I was actually quite skeptical, asking myself many of the tired questions about his experience and substance and whatnot. I liked Edwards too, and even as recently as last week I still was ready to possibly support Edwards.
And then, Iowa.

It was here I made my decision. Obama was the next President of the United States. Not because Edwards was no longer viable, but because Obama gave me hope for the future of the country, the future of the Democratic party, and the future of my generations.

They said this day would never come. They said our sights were set too high. They said this country was too divided; too disillusioned to ever come together around a common purpose.

I understand that to many in the generations above me, this may ring hollow. Where’s the substance, what’s he really saying, can he do more than speak well? I can’t blame you, but I ask that you understand how much this man’s words mean to me.

Obama’s victory really did prove the cynics wrong. For once, youth really did fuel a victory. For once, the unreliable bloc was reliable. For once, the apathetic proved they cared.
This speech and the one two nights ago gave me chills not because he has so carefully crafted his words (though, I admit, that helped), but because I’ve never heard words more true to me. I’ve heard replays of speeches by MLK and JFK, I’ve heard how inspiring those leaders were, and I’ve even felt it a bit from just those videos. But here, now, I finally have someone standing in front of me making me hopeful about my country.

Honestly, I don’t know if he can win in November. But even if he doesn’t I hope I get to see him try. I hope that my own party can give him that chance.

Hillary Clinton may very well make a great President if she is elected. But to me, even if she wins, she represents nothing new to me. Sure, she will be better than the Republicans. Her policies will be better, she’ll turn this country around. But she’ll keep the status quo. The youth will go back to being apathetic. They may still vote in the general election, but that will only be temporary.

Change v. Experience.

This truly is what it comes down to. But for some, this may be an equal trade-off. For me, the choice is clear. I’ve never known true change. I want to see it happen.