Or: How Ron Paul and libertarians are beating us in an ideological war we should be winning.
Do you remember things here in 2008? I sure do, it was my first election I was old enough to vote in. I'm very young, I admit it. I had grown up under Bush. I had grown up with gay and lesbian friends, with people who didn't understand why there was a wasteful war on drugs, with people who wanted the U.S. to stop being the world's police.
Those were the things that mattered to us. Those were the things that got us so excited to vote for Obama.
Economics? Let's be honest for a minute, economics is difficult. Most people don't have a good understanding of it. While I feel I have a decent understanding of it and I detest Ron Paul's economic policy, MOST PEOPLE MY AGE DON'T KNOW OR CARE ABOUT THAT. Really, I can't stress that enough. We felt betrayed.
So many of my friends who voted Obama with me in 2008 are now bubbling with excitement over Ron Paul. I can see why. He delivers everything we wanted...minus all that obtuse economic stuff that, for better or worse, most younguns don't have a good understanding of. All we know is that there's only one candidate in 2012 who isn't about to get us into war with Iran, and it breaks my heart that it isn't Obama.
I want to be clear, I'm voting for Obama. I can't stomach Ron Paul's economic policy. But I am jealous - so very jealous - of the platform Ron Paul is running on in almost every other area, and we are losing the youth at this rate.
How did this happen? We had 60 in the Senate and failed to pass single-payer health care. We let conservatives run as Democrats and we paid the price for it in the form of overwhelming disappointment. I know that things would have gotten done if we had 60 ACTUAL liberals in the Senate, but most people just see the (D) next to their name and ask: "How did we not deliver what we promised? Why should I trust you guys again?"
Lastly, I have to admit, I just wrote this to get it off my chest. I don't know what a practical solution is. I just hope somewhere, someone with some power reads this and understands that they need to invest in youth enthusiasm, the same enthusiasm that helped propel Obama in 2008.