Editor,
Eligible voters younger than 25 typically don't vote today, and in my mind, like being uneducated or driving drunk, this isn't something to brag about.
But it goes deeper and becomes more practical than that.
Do you know why politicians go on and on about the price of prescription drugs and about Social Security benefits, not making a peep about Pell Grants, the price of textbooks or student loan interest rates?
It's not because student issues aren't important; it's because student issues aren't important to people who vote. Senior citizens vote, and college students don't.
Do you think the Lottery Scholarship was created for the young voters who would most benefit from it? Think again. The Lottery Scholarship wouldn't exist if three major voting blocks and State Sen. Michael Sanchez, a Democrat from Belen, hadn't thought it was a good idea. You can thank local business owners and your parents and grandparents for creating the political will.
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Filmmaker Michael Moore didn't like his high school principal back in the Vietnam era, when 18-year-olds were first given the right to vote, so he ran for the local school board when he was 18, convinced all his friends to vote, won the race and fired his own principal - so goes the story according to Moore, at least.
I know many New Mexico political leaders who were UNM students when first elected to office. This could not happen today, as evident from the bevy of letters to the Daily Lobo supporting the abysmal voting record of young voters throughout the U.S. and the sentiment that voting encourages bad politicians.
If you want real information about the candidates, go online and read old news stories about them. Ask people who've been around for a while or simply call the candidates. This is New Mexico, and most of them are really approachable.
Do you want a voice in how much you can get from a Pell Grant, in what happens at UNM or in how your tax dollars are spent? Vote often, and start convincing your fellow students that not voting is as a dumb as not getting an education or getting in a car with a drunk driver.
This election cycle, many statewide and local offices are up for grabs. Both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate are teetering on the verge of a possible change in leadership, given the Mark Foley scandal, discontent over the war in Iraq and concerns over a weak economy. The 1st Congressional District race between Rep. Heather Wilson and Attorney General Patricia Madrid was a statistical tie in latest polls. Your vote can be the one that tips the scale in either direction.
Voting isn't just a right - it's a responsibility. Please grab a League of Women Voters voting guide at any UNM library and read it. Then get to the nearest polling site and cast a ballot today.
Danny Hernandez
Daily Lobo reader
