I Decide 2008?

So there are two things that bug the heck out of me for this upcoming election. The first is the way presidential primaries are run in my home state of Washington. Apparently when you vote for your candidate you have to sign the ballot and declare your allegiance to the political party you chose. For example, if I voted for Barak Obama I would have to declare allegiance to the Democratic party of Washington. If not, the other stuff on the ballot I voted for wouldn't count like the school funding thing to keep paying our school district enough money to run the schools. What the heck? Why to I have to declare allegiance to the party? It is way wacked out. The only person I could vote for in the Republican party is John McCain and I really don't like him. So I was going to vote for Obama because I like him better than Hillary. But I don't want to sign my life away to the Dems. Things need to change in Washington state.

The second is that people who have the right to vote don't have a clue what is going on. This is a very important election and it will have a major effect on our lives as we graduate college and go into the "real world". In my public health class the other day they went around the room asking what issues were most important to people in the upcoming election. I am sad to say the following was the response for about 40% of the class: "Umm I haven't really been following everything...But let's see....I guess healthcare would be important??" I was having issues with these people. Don't they know that who they elect could have a huge impact on their lives? I wanted to give them an election tutorial. What is going to happen when they pick their candidate to vote for? They will probably choose the best looking one or some other silly reason. These people will decide who is my president for the next 4-8 years. I hope they choose wisely. It's called "You Decide 2008" for a reason.