If something only happens once in every four years, it must be pretty special. The list is fairly small: leap years, the summer and winter Olympics, total solar eclipses, the World Cup. The most important of these elusive events is, of course, the United States Presidential election. The United States Presidential election is important because it represents a promise to the people of the United States.
When the Framers got together and decided how to run this country, they chose to put the power in the hands of the people. They said that we would not be the same as England and that we would forge our own path of democracy and freedom. Every time somebody goes out and votes, this promise is fulfilled.
Due in large part to this promise, the United States is still growing 225 years after the Constitution was drafted. We are the largest economy in the world. This past July alone, the United States exported $183.3 billion dollars worth of goods. Various studies have found that, on average, US citizens are happier than British citizens. After 225 years, we are standing tall and strong above those that doubted us. The reason we are where we are in the world is because, since the beginning, “we the people” have expressed ourselves and voted.
This year will be the first time some students are allowed to vote. In 2008, only 51 percent of people between the ages of 18 and 29 voted. This election should be different. Everybody has heard people in the hallways taking sides and denouncing certain candidates. This year, some of the student body has the power to help choose the next president. If you don’t vote, then you don’t have any right to complain about our next president. Personally, I will be too young to vote by only months; if I had been born a few months earlier, I would be first in line to vote. As it is, though, I can settle for trying to convince a few more people to vote.
If you do vote and your candidate does not win, you have some right to be upset. Remember, our country is based upon the will of the people. If a candidate is elected, it is because it is the will of the general public. It is the true fulfillment of the promise that the Framers made to us 225 years ago and, regardless of results, you should be proud.