This time, vote like your whole world depended on it
Mary Kate Brennan
Issue date: 11/7/08 Section: Opinions
For most of us, our vote does not count. Hailing from the great state of blowouts, Jaeger-bombs, and Bruce Springsteen, my vote technically was decided way before I submitted my absentee ballot. Without question, New Jersey is blue.
Not only does my geographical background make it seem as though my actual vote was meaningless because of the Electoral College system, but my personal responsibilities as a college student made my decision between McCain and Obama less urgent than others, for example, my parents. Fortunately, like the majority of us students, my bills are limited, and, despite the economic disaster, I feel confident entering the real world in a few short months; also, my need for social security is very far off. Sitting in my senior apartment, excuse me, my room in Edward Bennett Williams Hall, the immediate issues of the campaign were and continue to be almost non-existent. As a Holy Cross student, I, like the majority of my peers, happily live in a bubble (and I'm not complaining about that).
How then, or why, for that matter, should I care about my vote? Out of sheer laziness, it would have been easier to just not mail back the ballot to Metuchen. Apathy, I have been told in countless classes here on the hill, is a defining characteristic of our generation. Whatever, who cares about the president? Mad Men is on, there is a sale at J.Crew, and I need to write a paper for my Irish Drama class. There are a plethora of distractions and diversions that makes it convenient to simply avoid politics.
Who really wants a political debate outside of class? Obviously, a few people do, but often misinformed and misguided, these "debates," if they can even be classified that way, tend to be forums for people to pontificate and regurgitate the single article they read in The Economist or some other high-brow publication. Gross. If I wanted to listen to someone speak at me, I would just watch Chris Matthews. I wonder where he learned his pundit skills?
Not only does my geographical background make it seem as though my actual vote was meaningless because of the Electoral College system, but my personal responsibilities as a college student made my decision between McCain and Obama less urgent than others, for example, my parents. Fortunately, like the majority of us students, my bills are limited, and, despite the economic disaster, I feel confident entering the real world in a few short months; also, my need for social security is very far off. Sitting in my senior apartment, excuse me, my room in Edward Bennett Williams Hall, the immediate issues of the campaign were and continue to be almost non-existent. As a Holy Cross student, I, like the majority of my peers, happily live in a bubble (and I'm not complaining about that).
How then, or why, for that matter, should I care about my vote? Out of sheer laziness, it would have been easier to just not mail back the ballot to Metuchen. Apathy, I have been told in countless classes here on the hill, is a defining characteristic of our generation. Whatever, who cares about the president? Mad Men is on, there is a sale at J.Crew, and I need to write a paper for my Irish Drama class. There are a plethora of distractions and diversions that makes it convenient to simply avoid politics.
Who really wants a political debate outside of class? Obviously, a few people do, but often misinformed and misguided, these "debates," if they can even be classified that way, tend to be forums for people to pontificate and regurgitate the single article they read in The Economist or some other high-brow publication. Gross. If I wanted to listen to someone speak at me, I would just watch Chris Matthews. I wonder where he learned his pundit skills?
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