Brittany Westerberg

Even as a child, I was interested in politics. I have always been interested in who our president is, our representatives in Congress, their backgrounds, their views, etc. Maybe it was my parents’ fault, as my dad works for Farm Service Aagency and my mom works in education. Through their jobs, they are both interested in what our government does. But is this really a bad thing?

I don’t think so. In fact, I think that it is a little sad that people don’t care about our government and what it is doing. More sensational news is on the television, and news about the government is boring.

Maybe it is … okay, yes, it is boring, but it is also important.

Many people think that they can’t do anything about it if they don’t like what the government does. I know many people who think they have no say. Well, in all reality, this is technically a representative democracy. The definition of a democracy is that the people rule, which means we have to have a say in what happens in our government.

The easiest way to do that is by voting. I have friends who don’t vote for a variety of reasons, including the one about your vote not counting. I disagree with that; I feel that everyone should vote.

In the 2004 elections, only 47 percent of people age 18-24 voted. People between the ages of 65 and 74 had a 73 percent turnout rate. That’s more than a quarter of a percent difference.

With that much of a difference, whose issues do you think are going to be the most important to candidates? I doubt it’s going to be the ones affecting college-age kids.

All I have to say is this: if you don’t vote, you have no choice in what the government is doing. We hear people complain about the government all the time, but if you didn’t vote, you didn’t exercise your right, and so you really have no reason to complain.

I had no choice in the last presidential election, because I turned 18 two weeks afterwards. I do have a choice now, and believe me, I am going to do something about it.

#1.883006:313289181.jpg:westerberg,brittany.jpg:Brittany Westerberg, West River: