My Limited Power to Change The World

When George W. Bush won the election back in 2000, it seemed to me that the world had collapsed. True, I did not immediately feel this way and yes, such a feeling could very well be rooted in the misery that is middle school, but I think there’s more to it. In the blissfully ignorant mind of a sixth grader, Bush’s victory was the end of the world. Who could vote for someone who actually opposed a way of saving people’s lives (stem cell research) or wanted to give back people’s tax dollars when he could prevent a poor economy in the future by paying off the national debt? Obsessed with politics, I took on the job of informing every adult I knew just how bad Bush was for our country and just how evil his henchman Cheney would be, thereby successfully managing to persuade both my parents to vote for Ralph Nader. (In New Jersey, their otherwise democratic votes didn’t really matter anyway.)

When Bush was finally named president after all the legal battles and more than a month of electoral uncertainty, I was distraught. The world became somehow less innocent. My idealism had vanished. To tell the truth, I didn’t particularly like Al Gore either, but the idea that the supposedly infallible American election system could fail and that the American people could elect a man who was so obviously—it seemed to me—bad for the country cracked the rose-colored lenses through which I had always seen the world. Most frustrating, however, was that I could not act to change the situation. Indeed, who would expect an 11-year-old to have any knowledge of the American political system, much less entrust her with any significant political power? Agitated and underage, I sat in disappointment and anxiously awaited my turn.

Almost eight years later, cynical and hopefully worldlier, I no longer have high expectations of our illustrious nation. After two close, controversial elections and with the traumatic experiences of middle and high school under my belt, I am no longer convinced that good will triumph and evil will be vanquished—instead things appear colored in shades of gray. Thus I’ve had difficulty getting myself to vote, not because I don’t care, but because I have become ever more convinced that I am an insignificant player in the political world and much less sure of what is right or wrong.
Yet this election and this primary somehow seem different. After Bush’s prolonged governance, there is finally an opportunity to rectify the wrongs of his administration. Perhaps this time the American people will make a wiser choice in electing their next leader, and maybe they’re more wary of permitting him or her to be such a powerful executive. While once again there’s the opportunity to harm this nation, now could also be the time to rectify its problems.

Although I missed a local election out of apathy this fall, I became interested in voting in the primary shortly after that. While the local elections in my hometown are always dominated by sleazy players aiming to swindle the public, I was not sorry to have missed what was a battle for the least evil candidate. But this primary has become a contest of many good candidates, all of whom have proposed significant changes to our form of government. Thus I’m proud to say that I am finally voting.

But to say that I’m thrilled to be doing so would be inaccurate. Even as the repressed idealist in me shouts, “This is it, folks!” I cannot help but dread an unpleasant outcome to this series of elections. I certainly have such a precedent—for the better part of my cognizant life, the American system has been dominated by a figure I’ve long thought stupid and silly. Moreover, the ability to vote carries with it the responsibility of knowing you voted or had the ability to vote and chose not to, meaning you bear responsibility for who wins and loses.

But this, my first vote, will be special. Unlike the past two elections, this vote may not be a choice between evils but a vote as it should be: paring down promising candidates to get the best one. Although I may not be happy with the final outcome, perhaps I can avoid detesting it. In this election like no other recent one, the American people seem more willing to change, more hopeful for the future. Once again they have the opportunity to change things, and this time I have a say.

The author is a Columbia College first-year. She is an associate editorial page editor.