Have you registered to vote?

The youth vote matters, but only if they actually vote. The 1st article on political engagement gave statistics saying that youth voters just do not get to the polls like they could. Why try and appeal to a group that doesn't vote? We have to rock the vote, vote or die, but mainly we have to register. Barack O'bama signs are all over campus and around Chapel Hill/Carrboro informing people to register to vote early in the upcoming primary. It may not be the general election, but for the democratic party and nominees this primary is becoming more and more important.
There was a knock at my door the other day. Who could it be? Its not like I have any friends...at least coming over to my house. After yelling at the door for whoever it was to just come in, I decided to answer it. If it wasn't two lovely young ladies trying to spread the word about Barack Obama and get me to register for the primary. Technically, I am still registered in Boone so I was curious about switching it over to Orange Country. As I stood there in nothing but some gym shorts I decided to make the ladies feel more comfortable in their efforts to help campaign by asking them a few questions. I asked them about some of the issues they felt were important, what makes Barack better than the other candidates, what was their phone number, and when the last possible day was to register for the general election(sometimes setting the bar low is better than never setting it).
It was nice to be apart of the door to door strategy the Barack Obama supporters are using to increase voter turnout for the upcoming primary. I even referenced our class a few times and told them how cool Letia is, and how I would talk about this in class. The amazing video we've been watching in class probably is the reason I've forget to bring it up...I sure hope he wins.
Anyways, I am curious to see just how much of an impact the youth vote makes in the general election. It is hard to tell living near a college town, because everyone is young and seems to be politically motivated. But it seems that the youth of America is backing Barack more than ever and that the youth vote could have a record turnout in the election.

National Identity

Our nation is “divided”. President Bush’s term in office has left the United States with many questions. Who will answer them? More importantly, who will the nation choose to try and answer them?
The theme of each of the three remaining candidates seems to be uniting America. But who can unite America? I was watching “The Daily Show” (very academic) and John Stewart asked someone about if a Democrat can unite America? I thought this was an important question. Because if Obama or Clinton is elected into office, will he/she be able to bring the far right to the middle?
It is still early in the process, because the Democratic Party is still far from being united. I feel that this is one of the biggest advantages that John McCain has right now. The Republican Party was not exactly together during his rise to the top, but it seems he now is in complete control of his party. I think that will be the most important piece to a successful democratic run for office. The winning candidate will have to make an outstanding effort to gain the support of the sway Clinton or Obama “losers”.
The “unity” themes of the two parties are different. Obama (of course) speaks of uniting our nation through “change” and peace. Clinton offers much of a similar theme. However, McCain offers a slightly different them to “unity”. Uniting through fixing the war, fixing the country, and an attempt to change partisanship. McCain’s ads and the one we watched in class give this reflection on American past and vision of the American future. Mainly through pictures of him in Vietnam, past presidents, and visions of WWII. Obama has used many images of the past when “change” was used to make a better America.
Both will continue to build this National Identity of unity and bringing together our nation. The first task though for Obama (or Clinton) is to bring together their party before they can bring together America.