My family is disappointed in me. Born and raised into a family of conservatives, Fox News was usually on tv. I am embarrassed to admit that age 18, I voted for George W. Bush. Then, I went to college. Or, according to my family, I crossed over to the “dark side.”
I was warned. I was told that most of my college professors would be liberal, and that their political leanings would seep their way into their curriculum.
But if most professors are liberal, they don’t infuse their viewpoints into their lectures. (Remember, my experience only applies to West Virginia University.) Because of the nature of the subject matter, most professors leave politics out of the classroom. In history and political science, controversial subjects may be addressed, but it is in the form of historical facts. Professors have heard the claims about liberal universities; they know we’re waiting for it. My American Government professor made jokes about how he knew we were “taking notes,” trying to figure out his political leanings. But if I had been, I would have never figured it out.
I originally thought the most likely candidates for such a practice would be my political science professors, but they seemed to have intensely studied government for so many years that strongly identifying with one political party would have been ignoring facts. Neither party has it exactly right.
College did not turn me liberal, although my family might perceive that it has, since they finally pulled it out of me that, yes, I am voting for Barack Obama. College has made me more closely identify with those beliefs I perceived in my political science professors. I believe that neither political party has it exactly right, so I will be voting for the candidate, not the party to which he belongs.
I still believe in what I initially thought were Republican values; I don’t want government interference in how I choose to live my life. But since the Republican party believes no interference regarding guns makes more sense than no interference regarding gay marriage, I no longer associate that value with the Republican party. If there is interference, it should be for the betterment of American’s lives, not to dictate “moral values.”
So why have I chosen Barack Obama as my candidate? The media seems to be fascinated about Barack Obama’s appeal to younger voters. John McCain thinks it’s because he’s the “biggest celebrity in the world.”
Give us a little more credit, Mr. McCain. There’s a little more to it than that.
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Bill Clinton visits WVU in Morgantown
Bill Clinton visited my campus today.
hi my name is erin and I’m a volunteer for barack obama
I started an internship for the Barack Obama campaign today. It should be pretty intense. It is supposed to be 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day for one week, but I went down after class today around 1 p.m.
It was pretty much what I expected; “grunt work.” I canvassed (visited registered Democrats’ houses) during the day, then made phone calls in the evening. My purpose was to establish the degree of local support for Obama, recruit volunteers, and maybe try to sway some undecided voters.
But I didn’t imagine how many “undecideds” there would actually be! Maybe they didn’t feel comfortable telling me that they were leaning towards Clinton. All the polls are saying Clinton is leading here. But I didn’t get that at all!
I spoke to a decent amount of Obama supporters. I do live in a college town, so I expected a lot of support. But I also made calls to a neighboring county, and that was actually where I talked to a lot of “undecideds.” It threw me off guard! I know why I like Obama, but it’s kind of hard to explain it in a few succinct sentences.
I am even more convinced that Obama badly needs to visit West Virginia. I’m worried that he thinks it’s not worth it, but if he came at the last minute, he might be able to sway these indecisive voters!
Bill Clinton is coming to campus tomorrow, so maybe Obama, or someone from his campaign, will visit too. But an Obama visit would make the biggest impression, and I think West Virginians would really respond to the effort.
I will update tomorrow about whatever Clinton has to say; I’m sure it will be interesting.
