Useless endorsements; alienating college students; efforts to limit democracy; Republican hypocrisy; all are ways to describe the past few months of this election cycle.
Let’s begin with useless endorsements. When a candidate has to tout endorsements, I feel as though they are filling our brains with fluff in order to distract us from the real issues in the race. I don’t need to know that a few contacts you’ve manipulated have come out to publicly support your candidacy. What I need to know is how are you going to best represent me if you get elected. How will you specifically create growth in the economic sector aka job creation? How will you help fix our failing school system? The list goes on and on of the issues facing our local communities, not to mention our state, nation and even the world.
When endorsements are made by news operations, like newspapers for instance, it really hurts their credibility as a whole. It gives me no reason to believe anything that paper writes about any of the other candidates even when it’s presented as fact simply because of the actions of a few executives on an editorial board. That’s how quick the standards of journalism can fly out the window.
Clearly these endorsements, no matter how frivolous they are, are not meant for college-age voters. To my amazement, the State of Maine, through the mouthpiece of demagoguery, has devalued the involvement of young people in our democracy. It is one thing to question the legitimacy of voters, but it’s another thing entirely to question whether college students should be able to vote in the state in which they are earning their education. Or what about political posturing about Democrats busing students to the polls in order to make it easier for them to vote? The only reason Republicans don’t like that is because more young people tend to vote Democratic. If someone wants to bus me to the polls, so I don’t have to use up America’s gold ”“ aka oil ”“ I’m all for it. It would be like saying we shouldn’t help senior citizens to the polls. I’m pretty sure there isn’t a problem with that.
On the topic of politically driven rhetoric, it is hypocritical for Republican leaders to support removing same-day voter registration when members of their own party in power have previously registered on Election Day themselves. There shouldn’t be a double standard between the people in power and the people who put them in those positions. It’s already hard enough to get citizens active in our democratic process. Limiting the one day of the year when people hear about casting their ballot the most lacks common sense and, to be frank, is undemocratic.
Going back to the topic of college students, elimination of same-day voter registration would affect my generation the most. Sadly, not everyone in my peer group is as passionate about government participation as I am. This is partly due to our schools failing to adequately prepare students for the realities and responsibilities of the real world, so let’s not blame young people entirely.
This all culminates on Tuesday, Nov. 8. That is the day where your voice can truly be heard. You have the power to influence the decisions that govern our lives. This column isn’t meant to tell you how to vote, but instead is meant as a way to inspire. You don’t have to march in the streets or run for office to get a message out there; you can check a box on a piece of paper or electronic machine.
Happy voting!
— Justin Chenette is a host of Youth in Politics, airing on WPME Sundays at 2 p.m. and WPXT at 8:30 a.m. He is a former member of the Maine State Board of Education, a graduate of Thornton Academy and is currently attending Lyndon State College, majoring in broadcast news. Follow him on Twitter @justinchenette, like him on Facebook.com/JustinChenetteOfficial, or visit his website at justinchenette.com.
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