Notice I used representatives and not politicians. John F. Kennedy once said, “Mothers may still want their favorite sons to grow up to be President, but they do not want them to become politicians in the process.” As one of Webster’s definitions reads, “a politician is one who is skilled in the science or administration of government,” while another reads, “a politician is one who seeks personal or partisan gain, often by scheming and maneuvering.” The former is what society needs; the latter is what we have.

We hear the same story every election – young registered voters just do not show up at the polls. Being one of those young registered voters that do show up at the polls, it is disheartening to look around and see an absence of people my age.

I vote because it is my duty as an American citizen. I vote because I care about the decisions that are made that will affect my everyday life and my future. I vote because I want to keep our current leaders accountable for their actions. I vote because I have always been interested in politics and government and how it works – and how it can be improved.

In reality, everyone does not share that same interest in our government. Every student that attends high school gets told why it is important to vote. Everyone reads the same paragraph out of that American Government textbook. But when we get into the “real” world, why vote? Our cities, counties, states, and country are lead by men and women not only that we cannot relate to, but by men and women that do not attempt to relate to us.

I see on the news where Politician A is urging young voters to get out and vote, or I see where Politician B is stressing the importance of young voters to his campaign. I do not have a scientific poll to back this up, but I would venture to say there is a direct relation to the percentage of voters by age group and the percentage of the population by age group that watches the news. Although I personally do not care for his music, Sean “P Diddy” Combs did a wonderful job of reaching out to youth with his “Vote or Die” campaign in the latest Presidential election. “Young voters in this country are throwing away their power to have a say about education, healthcare, and any issue that affects them,” P. Diddy says. “These things affect your life, so –Vote or Die!”

I stress the importance of this issue at the local level of government. There are groups such as the College Republicans and the Young Democrats of America, but the most effective way to recruit young voters is grass roots campaigning and INVOLVEMENT. Get young people more involved in the process of running our government. I am not encouraged to give my two cents when I already know the decision will be made based on the thousands of dollars given to a campaign by a more “mature” constituent. I understand that this democratic world we live in operates under the Golden Rule of, “He who owns the gold, makes the rules,” but to get the younger population involved, we must be taken seriously.

Education cannot always replace experience, but we must get young people in office. Those of you, young and old, that do vote – I can only ask that you take into consideration not only your present, but our future.

To my fellow young people – I ask that you take a stand as well. Take a chance and run for public office. We must prove that we want to, and are willing to make a difference. Do not be afraid of losing. American writer Richard Bach once said, “That’s what learning is, after all; not whether we lost the game, but how we lose and how we’ve changed because of it and what we take away from it that we never had before, to apply to other games. Losing, in a curious way, is winning.”

Kevin Burke
Chattanooga
kevin-burke@utc.edu