Super Tuesday, Super Election

I know none of us can get away from the Presidential elections, but in all honesty, I have to pose this question: Has there been any election in the past decade (dare I say two decades?) that has garnered such coverage because we know that the Democratic party has made history by guaranteeing either a minority or female candidate in the final dash?

Let's face it, the election is starting to get somewhat exciting. There are candidates actively asking for my vote because I'm young (WASP-ish candidates never really cared for the young vote in times past - you always hear about the minority vote, the retired/elderly vote, and the female vote, even the working class vote, but no "youth vote.") As Super Tuesday approaches, and as I prepare to face the Republican poll machine, I'm already wrestling with this choice: How do I vote now if I decide to cross party lines in November?

I think this article in TIME shows that the primaries have changed, not only to make history for this country electing a minority or female President, but that there is someone in the election speaking specifically to the under-30 crowd. Someone who has Pennsylvania Ave. in their sights is telling me that my vote is important to them. No one's ever done that before. I feel so special!

All joking aside, though, I think this is also what Ron Paul had going for him on the Republican side, but he just doesn't have the star power that Obama does. He doesn't talk as smooth, either, but the man has appealed to youth by speaking with a fresh voice that doesn't use such politic-esque language, the same talking-head gibber-gabber that we've been accustomed to listening to since the discovery of newspaper, radio and television (and that's a freaking long time, dear readers.) Even when the words "gold standard" crept into references about Ron Paul, he was still able to raise startling amounts of money while clinging to the primaries, outlasting Rudy Giuliani and hoping to slough off some votes from the now-popular war hero McCain, smooth-coiffed Romney and conservative WASP-next-door Huckabee.

I remember in the 1980s my parents crossing party lines when they found out that Democrats were pro-choice, staunchly walking away from the liberal half and discovering that their once-liberal views weren't so liberal any more. I faced a similar decision once Bush was elected again and watched the body count tick higher and higher in Iraq and Afghanistan, but not because my once-conservative views weren't so conservative any more. Even after this election, I'm not so sure I want to be affiliated with either party.

But who did I have to choose from in the primaries since I was legally able to vote? Well, if I could have voted in 1996, I doubt I would have voted for Bob Dole, but that didn't matter, because there was the male Clinton, who was already in office when I turned 18, and was the sound favorite for reelection. After that, I've had the immense enjoyment of having to choose between Bush and, well, no one else in 2004; and McCain or Bush in 2000. To be honest, I have no clue who Alan Keyes was, and at 20 years of age, I had no interest in researching him, and so had crossed him off my list.

Perhaps this is why the youth vote has not been discovered until now. Presidential candidates and the under-30 crowd never were able to find a language they could speak together. If there was a campaign at a campus, they sure weren't at the one I was at, and I have an inkling that the only ones who cared were the ultra-conservative campus newspaper reporters and the college brass. But even I worked for the ultra-conservative newspaper and was more worried about securing pictures for the water polo match than figuring out who was getting my vote. But now, even if it's just a handful, there are Presidential hopefuls calling my name and telling me my vote is important to them - nay, that "we" are important and a crucial part of the election process. For Generation-Y, that's just the ego booster we need to begin caring about the elections.