East Tennessean

Issue date: 9/18/08 Section: ViewPoint

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Academically, I am currently seeking a second degree studying journalism. Politically, I have been a longtime supporter of the Democratic Party. Hence, I will be representing this political viewpoint in this new column. Furthermore, I hope to speak truthfully to the Democratic voice (with the help of the interested student body).
I vote in primaries, local, state and congressional and presidential elections. Voting is the keystone to any democracy. I vote for the integral notion of freedom. Our freedom is to choose who will represent us in Johnson City, Nashville and Washington, D.C. If you are part of the 50 percent of Americans who do not vote, then I plead that you exercise this essential freedom. Even if you think it is futile, especially if you vote in congressional elections where the 1st District of the State of Tennessee hasn't elected a Democrat in at least a century (that is our voting district for those in the Tri-Cities), I urge you to cast your freedom no matter who you vote for.
As for why I vote Democrat, usually it's a matter of conscience. Though I have no problem with the Republican Party or even what it may stand for sometimes, I do have a problem voting for the new conservative party which has been taking over the old states-rights and old conservative Republican Party and taken the form of either corporate or religious fundamentalism.
Why one should vote Democrat is the party's strong position of tolerance, whether it is homosexual, women's or minority rights. Secondly, is the Democrats' strong stance of helping out those less fortunate, whether that be with programs to help the poor, or provide public housing or tax breaks for the middle class and those below middle class. Third is the Democratic notion that war is an act of last resort instead of the new conservative and the current administration's use of pre-emptive military action or war.
The war is the most important issue for me, and it should be for the entire American public. Too often the issue that we have been at war with two countries, Afghanistan for almost seven years and Iraq for five and half, escapes the media and the public. I read polls where more than 80 percent of the American public is against the war in Iraq, but I see little mention of it in the news or even overhear the general public speak of it. We seem to be more worried about $4 per gallon gas. Roughly 4,600 young men and women have lost their lives along with about 25,000 causalities as a result of the wars, or 'extended military conflict' as some conservatives say.
I know they are many other issues that are important to me, students and the entire American public. I hope that I can represent the views of the Democratic side for students and the public in this new column.

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