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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Guide Weather Subscribe Contact Us October 27, 2004 Making votes for the future By John Enders Ashland This election is being called the "most important election in a generation." For my daughter, a sophomore at Portland State, it is the first election of her generation. On Oct. 12, the final day for Oregonians to register, Aimee and her fellow Associated Students of PSU registered 1,000 voters in one day - Democrats and Republicans. What a great thing to do, to extend the franchise to many who were convinced that they could or would not vote. I'm so proud of her and other young people working hard to register voters, promote causes and candidates and support worthy ballot measures in Oregon and across the nation. That sort of political activism on the part of young people is a grand American tradition, especially in times when the nation is divided - over war, the economy or civil rights. And, in my opinion, it is why John Kerry will win in November. By and large, pollsters ignore the young and mobile in their surveys. This year, moveon, ACT (America Coming Together) and students around the country will have a huge impact on the vote. Bravo! In my 52 years, I've only seen this country as deeply and bitterly divided at one other time: during the waning years of the Vietnam War. I recall going door to door, on a rainy Portland evening in 1972, to turn out voters for George McGovern, even after the national media had called the election for Richard Nixon in a landslide. The main argument then against his reelection was the war. Today, as in the 1970s, our country is divided over an unpopular and costly war. But we also are divided over the economic effects of four years of Republican rule; over whether America ought to be the bully cop in the world; over the backward direction the Administration has taken, internationally and inside the U.S., on environmental protections; and on global trade. We are even divided over whether to speak out against the new holocaust: genocide. We are divided over what marriage means, the all-volunteer military, the unhealthy state of our health care industry, and over poverty, child abuse, sexual abuse, and violence, which all run rampant throughout the land. And a century and a half after President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, America is shamefully divided along race and class lines. My daughter and I are Kerry supporters. We think he'll do things differently, that he will move to reverse wrong-headed policies of arrogance, policies that favor the rich, are bankrupting the middle class for generations to come, and benignly neglecting the poor, people of color, working people, and those most in need - the sick and the weak. I will vote for John Kerry because America really can - and must -- do better. Aimee also believes that. And millions of her young friends do too. John Enders was a reporter and editor in the United States and overseas for nearly 25 years. Today he is executive director of the Southern Oregon Historical Society. He may be reached at [email protected]. The opinions expressed herein are his own and do not reflect those of the Society or any other group. DailyTidings.com Home Page Archives | Revels | Classifieds | Real Estate Guide | Weather | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2005 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Slippers Isotoner Slippers Dsw Shoes Ceramic Piggy Banks Fanny Mae Eloans Calenders 2005 Calender 2005 Accelerate Weight Loss Programs Citibank Student Loans Acs Loan Matchmaking & Dating Scripts Adventure Travel Conference Calls - $50/Month Security Systems student loan consolidation helzberg diamonds Click Here Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams