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Originally Posted by CourtneyB
I saw Nadar will win. I feel bad for him...id vote for him if i can vote. I think that Bush isnt doing a very good job with this "conflict" (i dont call it a war for various reasons). If Kerry wins, he wont do much of a better job than Bush is doin right now. But yet, if Nadar wins, everyone will hate him and he wouldnt know what to do. But for right now Nadar would have my vote.
-Court-
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This isn’t aimed solely at you, but more broadly at young voters (especially here in FIRST).
If you’re going to nonchalantly cast your vote for whoever is listed first on your ballot, or if you vote for a candidate only because you feel sorry for them, or if you throw your vote away by not voting at all then you have no one to blame for the inadequacies and shortcomings of this country but yourself. You have not, in good faith, supported the candidate with whom you share beliefs that are important to you as a human being. You must also recognize the repercussions of the vote you cast. In a perfect world a third, fourth or fifth party candidate for president would be viable, but this is not a perfect country (we can discuss the history of political parties, etc. if you want).
Many of us are registered voters in very important places for this upcoming election, and need to understand that voting for Ralph Nader instead of John Kerry (if you have moderate to liberal social beliefs, and/or conservative to liberal fiscal beliefs) is counterproductive to your social and fiscal interests. Due to his inevitable defeat, voting for Nader while harboring either misgivings towards Bush or ambivalent to supportive feelings towards Kerry makes it more likely that George Bush will be re-elected.
It is necessary, as a voter, for you to keep yourself informed as to the candidates’ positions so that you can better decide for yourself which candidate deserves your support and in the end your vote. If you believe that George Bush is failing our country in Iraq/Afghanistan, and you believe that John Kerry might or definitely will do a better job than the status quo isn’t that a good reason to vote for Kerry (assuming, of course, that you agree with his positions on other issues, or that you don’t agree more with Bush)? You also must be weary of many political advertisements. Political advertisements are the candidates’ “cliffs’ notes” of their positions and plans, and there is mass deception on both sides in these advertisements. There are many scare tactics used claiming that one side will ban bibles, require everyone to go to church, ban guns, require everyone to own guns, ban abortions, or require every woman to have an abortion, etc. To really enlighten yourself you should read each candidate’s platform, each party’s platform, and independent groups’ assessments of their plans and be able to read between the lines (recognizing possible bias one way or another from certain sources) and then decide for yourself which you agree with more.
http://www.factcheck.org/
You must take a proactive role in politics or at the very least be a politically knowledgeable American if you want to change things in America for what you believe is the better.
I believe it is healthy to leave FIRST at some point and carry on with a well-rounded life (family, fun, school, & work). Focus your creative energy on developing your skills as a professional; then, come back to FIRST as a mentor later down the line. - Erin Rapacki [more] 
. I was assuming that Dana Rohrabacher's proposed amendment was passed and ratified. I also assumed that Ryan was talking about that constitutional amendment movement, and not just a “run Arnie” movement.
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