Hi. I have been a reader of Daily Kos for a while - not as long as many here, but a little while at least. I don't write diaries or even comment much, because I have felt like I don't have that much to say about the politics being discussed here. I use this site as way to educate myself about what's going on. There are probably many people like me, here and other places, especially in this election season.
Recently, I have been thinking. I may not know much about the ins and outs of politics, although I would like to, and I may not have the experience in following politics to judge how things are going, but I do have this - my personal experience of what this election has been like so far. My view, as a first time close follower of a presidential election. And my view, as a young person who has been watching the effect that Barack Obama and his ways of involving people are affecting other young people around me.
It's not exactly what you're thinking. No, unlike many this year, it wasn't Barack Obama that inspired me to get involved, for the first time, in the political process. It wasn't the promise of a different kind of politics, although I do like that promise. Really, I would have gotten involved no matter who was running, because I'm interested in politics and this is just the first election where I'm old enough to grasp what's happening.
Starting out though, all I knew was that I wanted to learn more, and I wanted to figure out how to do that. And I have been able to learn, thanks to blogs like Daily Kos. In the past, I had watched the cable news networks, and other traditional media, trying to see what they were talking about. But those people have a vested interest, it seems, in keeping the population ignorant so we have to tune in to their special interviews with special experts to decipher what's going on.
I want to tell you though, about what it was like among people that I know, who also, for the first time, are getting involved. A few months ago, in the primary season, Barack Obama came to my town. The fact that any presidential candidate was coming in itself was special. The state I live in has a late primary, so we usually get ignored. But this year, it was different, and everyone got excited for his arrival. A lot of people showed up to his rally, maybe 8 or 9 percent of the town's whole population. It seemed like I saw everyone I knew waiting in line. Even a lot of people who I wouldn't have thought would be interested in things like this. Even at the beginning of spring break. It was just the place to be, the cool thing to do - to pay attention to politics.
Now, one thing I do have to mention, if you haven't realized it already: I am not old enough to vote. Many of the people I know are, but a lot of those young people I saw in line, and later on saw sporting Obama tee-shirts or talking about the election, weren't either. But that doesn't mean we can't volunteer, and donate, and be aware in this political process. We teenagers, unlike some stereotypes, do genuinely care about our country. So now that Barack Obama has made history by becoming the first African-American major party presidential nominee, we will make history, and come out in droves this fall - to vote if we can, and to volunteer.
And in the next presidential election, I, along with many others my age, will proudly cast my first vote for President Obama's second term. Because the movement that Obama is creating now, and the people he is energizing, is about more than this one election. It will be a lasting thing, a movement to be continued on by people like me. People who are frustrated and eagerly anticipating their 18th birthday, so they too can exercise their responsibility and privilege, and vote.