Lots of Thoughts Today

I'm barely even paying attention to election coverage these days. I'm just sick of people reporting on Obama's slip-ups or Clinton's campaign debts. Yes, both candidates are going to go down in history for being black or female, but Democrats should really be contrasting their views and how well they match their party's ideals. Yes, it is important for the convention to pick the candidate they think can most likely beat McCain, but the issues should be the most important. I only know Obama's stance on a couple of key issues and I barely know anything about Clinton at all. No one is reporting on how they differ on major topics, leaving America to vote off of image once again.

I haven't even decided if I'm going to vote. I don't really share the same views as any of the candidates - I just looked at some of their stances online - and I'd rather not just vote for the lesser of two evils come November. I'm more moderate and no candidate is like that; I'm not really Republican and I'm certainly not batting for the political Left. There's nothing wrong with those that are; I just have a different opinion.

And that's a key thing for me: no one is wrong in their views because it's all just opinions. I hate political debates with peers because no one's opinion is going to change and neither side is really listening to the other because they're too busy thinking of the next point they can use to prove they're "right." But I think political debates between candidates are great - as long as they're not focusing on petty issues, ahem. It really gives people the chance to see how the candidates separate themselves and it's a really easy way to learn about the issues at hand.

People my age are all too busy watching The Hills and getting false conceptions of reality to tune into such debates. P. Diddy was the host of a debate between Kerry and Bush on MTV last election and I think that was brilliant - despite most of his posse that wore "VOTE OR DIE" shirts not even registering to vote. It's so hard to get our apathetic generation to get involved with things that don't center directly on them [hmm... another blog topic]. My friend Curt is a political science minor (sorry if I got that wrong, yo!) and involved in Obama's campaign. I've learned a lot through him and he's also inspired me to at least get more informed.

That's really all I'm asking of the American population. I don't care who you vote for or who wins, as long as they're elected based on the issues instead of superficial media sensations. And if you don't vote because you don't like any of the candidates, that's okay too.