Every generation has its moment. Our parents' generation burst onto the national scene with the student protests over the Vietnam War and segregation in the South. Our generation has come of age through its opposition to the Iraq conflict and its support for the integration of the White House.
Regardless of one's own personal politics, there is little doubt that the college voter has helped to transform Sen. Barack Obama into President-elect Barack Obama. Members of our generation have organized, canvassed and donated money to the Obama campaign, all the while dreaming of his victory last night. In the cold of winter, our generation helped to propel the long-shot Obama to victory in the Iowa caucuses. Throughout the summer, college students volunteered tirelessly, many participating in the political process for the first time. And yesterday, we voted for him. According to NBC News, the youth population both turned out in greater numbers and voted more heavily for Obama than they did four years ago for Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.). NBC exit polls reported that approximately 70 percent of voters under 30 supported Obama over Sen. John McCain. This support, no doubt, contributed heavily to Obama's historic victory.
Previously, the Daily has challenged the campus community to make voting a priority. We have commented that political candidates do not pay enough attention to the youth vote because the youth do not vote. Through our volunteer efforts and our ballots, we have established our generation as a national political force. Hopefully, politicians will take notice and focus more on the issues that matter to us. Perhaps the Bush administration's greatest failure will be the decision to pay for current expenditures with borrowed money. The politicians of our parents' generation will leave us a national debt that will hamper future prosperity. As President Obama begins his administration, we hope he will not forget the young voters who helped to get him there. He must work to repair the national debt and help us to continue to afford our college educations as this nation moves forward.
We hope that the Obama presidency will speak to the world we will soon inherit. Our generation does not look at the world through the prism of American exceptionalism but rather treats global politics and relations as an integrated whole. Obama's ability to verbalize the international perspective of our generation is one reason so many college voters found him so inspiring.
Obama spoke to this theme in his victory speech, saying, "Our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared." As the world becomes increasingly global, Obama has always played to tomorrow's possibilities rather than the fears inherent in the future.
Years from now, we'll be telling generations to come about the monumental history made last night. The 2008 presidential election is transformational on several levels, including the arrival of our generation into the national political arena. America will never be the same.
