Teen/College Student trying to understand elections/politics. Help?!?

Question

I am a 19 y/o college student, and being that the 2008 elections will be the first time I am going to be able to vote, I want to learn more about all of the candidates. Is there a site I can go to that breaks everything down for me? I just dont know where I would start. I know its probably crazy for me not to know anything about politics, but lets just be lucky that I am interested in the elections, and not who's on the cover of Lucky magazine. :) Thanks for the help!

Answer 1

The easiest sources of information are the candidates' websites, but it's also useful to examine the presidential debates (there have already been many) and newspaper articles analyzing the election.

Also: talk to people. A lot of times your older, politically-experienced friends will be able to come up with a lot of historical information worthy of evaluation (e.g. Hillary Clinton's advocacy for universal health care during her husband's administration) that would rarely appear in the news, being that it isn't news.

Other than that, one thing I would like to strongly point out: when candidates are proposing radical changes (like universal health care, the gold standard, teaching intelligent design - I can't think of many off the top of my head), do the research and find out what reputable experts think. (And I mean *reputable* - look up professional organizations like the American Economic Association and read the sources they recommend.)

Answer 2

All you need to know is that the party system is a sham, which exploits the system as a whole. Any individual in a party is going to have to scratch backs once in office. An exception may be Ron Paul who is in the Republican party, but he is making so many promises that he will be lucky to even keep one since the system is based on party support. I don't even think he has said what his plans are for guaranteeing his promises. There is no way he will get nominated for the Republican party, which once denied the nomination it would be in his best interest to run as an independent individual claiming that the Republican party no longer carries the traditional Republican values. Slapping the party system in the face is what needs to be done. If someone could awaken the dormant votes then that individual would win by a landslide.

I would vote for an independent individual, if one ever ran. Might not ever happen since by law in some states, you have to be in a party to run for a seat in the government. The last person that ran for president as an independent individual was George Washington. Ironically, he warned about the party system too.

Answer 3

I graduated college in 1990 - you're very fortunate to have the internet to conduct your research.

If you consume any political opinion pieces, you may already have a short list of writers whose views you trust. Even those whose views you wholly disagree with will help you. Every columnist has a website where you can easily access their entire library of opinion.

Go ahead and watch the debates, but keep in mind they're a joke. Pre-scripted questions and canned answers.

Remember there is no such thing as complete objectivity, so when you read or view a journalist's piece on a "mainstream" network, keep in mind that there's always a message the production crew wants to convey.

This is why I've become a consumer of pure opinion pieces - you know where the writer's coming from and, in effect, it's more honest journalism. No feigned objectivity.

Answer 4

well, you have taken the first step. That is a desire to educate yourself and not accept other peoples beliefs. 99% of voters don't get that.
The best thing you can do is go to the web sites of the major candidates and read about them. try an see who fits your beliefs best. The best candidate for you may not be even in the party you think you belong to. To vote soley on party lines, race, gender or because someone told you to vote a certain way is ignorance. Also keep in mind that politicians will say anything to get elected. Look into their history. See how they voted on major issues. Someone who is against the war today, but voted for it 5 years ago is spineless in my book. I have more respect for someone who voted and stuck by their vote. Thats what you have to look at..do they have a position and do they stick by it or do they vote based on the winds. We don't need that.
A educated person will educate themselves, come up with their own belief system and vote according to that.
There is a lot of negative hype and nasty talk these days. try and stay clear of it. Develop your own conscience and your own value system. Don't let family, professors, strangers or friends tell you what to do, how to think or how to vote.
A well balanced person has a well defined set of beliefs, morals, ethics etc and can defend them and will stick by them through thick and thin.

Bottom line, vote, no matter who its for and try and educate yourself. You will be a better person for your efforts.

Answer 5

It's not crazy, believe it or not the majority of young people couldn't really give a toss about who is running their country.

I'm happy that you've taken an interest, seeing as that makes me not the only one.

My advice would be to look over the history of each different party and form your judgements with their histories in mind - look at how they tried to help society and how they tried to change things for the better.

Remember, you're voting for the party, not the candidate.

Answer 6

Yahoo! has a great site
http://news.yahoo.com/election/2008/candidates;_ylt=Aqv0jbe3a.h5NgCKc9T3kCFsnwcF

It has all the candidates and their webpages.
My favorite is Ron Paul.
www.RonPaul2008.com

Answer 7

This will be my first time voting in the presidential elections too, and I'm psyched. So many of our peers don't get involved in politics, so you make me proud.

First you need to register to vote. When you register to vote, your state will send you a guide book that will break down the voting process, and it will also tell you about the candidates and propositions that will be on the ballot.

Next figure out what issues matter most to you (i.e. abortion, health care, gay marriage, the economy, the war, financing public education, immigration,). This will help you to sort through the candidates by finding out which ones reflect your beliefs and which ones don't. Good luck!

Answer 8

My advice is to check out each of the candidates and see how strongly they support what the Constitution agrees with. Once you find the one that does that, you've found the candidate that isn't the lesser of two evils. That person is just a good future president.

Answer 9

Don't listen to Charlie S. Next thing you know, he will say that Jews control the universities. Google each candidate and go to their website. If you have no political persuasion, this is even better - that way, you can choose the candidate that best represents your values.

Answer 10

it's a bit early to see who is running on each side, and from what i have seen so far they are all kinda messed up so just watch a few debates when the time comes and vote for the lesser of the 2 evils.