I can’t speak for everyone, but I can say that I am absolutely sick of hearing about the presidential election. I actually wish the election was tomorrow, so everyone would stop talking about it.
The fact is that the more coverage an election gets, the less of an immediate impact it has on voters. Sure, the president can set a bold example of leadership and vow to reform healthcare, the economy, the tax code, energy policy and mass transit funding. But the governor is responsible for the state budget and selecting four of the members of the Board of Trustees for colleges in the UNC system. The Board of Trustees of each respective college then meets to discuss various academic, financial and other administrative matters, all of which directly relate to student activities or activities that affect students.
Thus, the grand effect of the presidential elections on Jan. 20, 2009 is one of leaving the winners happy and the losers disappointed, with the media sitting on the side “analyzing” everything.
So while the airwaves and televisions and interwebs may be alive with analysis of who Obama picked to be his vice president on the ticket, speculation about John McCain’s running mate or yet another look at the poll numbers, it’s all a bunch of smoke and mirrors.
Polls are probably the worst part of this “coverage.” Every time I hear news about the minute details of a tracking poll, I think of Anchorman and Brian Fantana’s description of the Sex Panther cologne: “Sixty percent of the time it works, every time.”
Spare me.
There are far more important elections – local and state governments are going to make decisions that will quickly have an effect. Student Government has control over about $220,000 from one of the many fees you pay each semester. And you actually have a shot at influencing this government – you can’t exactly just run into a federal government leader every day on campus.
On the other hand, you may just happen to run into the student body president or the Student Senate president. You may be in class with them. You may even actually be able to Facebook them. Hard to believe, isn’t it?
And don’t forget that N.C. State is comprised of about 30,000 people out of 300 million in America, which amounts to about .01 percent. On the other hand, we comprise almost 11 percent of the population of Raleigh. Where do you think we can better make our voices heard? You can go argue about who’s going to be president. I’ll stick with worrying about the politics I can do something about.
E-mail your thoughts on other elections to [email protected].
