Dartmouth students know that this time of year is special for more reasons than just the impending doom of sub-zero temperatures. As our campus is littered with bumper stickers, poster boards and buttons that support the several Democratic Presidential candidates, we all know that we can be part of one of the most exciting events to take place here in years; the New Hampshire Democratic Presidential primary.
We are in a uniquely important position living in New Hampshire, the state that holds the nation's first primary presidential election and is known to predict accurately the outcome of the party's nominee each time. A situation such as this only comes along once ever four years at Dartmouth, but is made even more exhilarating this year by the fact that our nation's current fearless leader, President Bush, is such a despised figure amongst liberal college students.
Although the actual presidential candidates have not yet begun to arrive on campus this term for their campaigns, in a matter of weeks they will begin to flood the halls of the bustling metropolis that is Hanover, all to win over our support. This notion brings about such a feeling of elation, that national figures as prominent as John Kerry and Howard Dean will journey to our miniscule enclave for the sole purpose to court us, a potentially decisive voting block.
However, our strength as a voting group is not a guarantee, since young people generally boast such low voter turnout. I am greatly saddened that in the midst of all of this excitement, as student groups eagerly form to support the respective candidates, that such a large portion of Dartmouth's student can stand ambivalently by without even making themselves aware of the existence of the different issues at hand. No matter a student's ideological beliefs, whether ultra-conservative or left-wing liberal, everyone can play an integral role in the upcoming election. Republican students can work to support Bush or their party in general, while liberal students, who appear to compose the vast majority of the student body on campus, should make it their business to learn about the issues and backgrounds of all of the candidates.
I am clearly not saying that it is the job of every student to go door-to-door to solicit votes for a candidate nor to even necessarily join a support group of a certain view. However, the apathy that plagues young adults and keeps so many college-age citizens from voting in elections is the reason that we are not nearly as powerful a voting block as the elderly. So, in the end, the total indifference of so many of our peers impedes the political power of our age group as a whole, regardless of the passion that so many individuals possess for politics.
It astounds me that in a nation that is so plagued with troubles -- CIA operatives are revealed because their spouses criticize the government, unemployment numbers continue to climb, the budget deficit is at its highest point ever, and the entire rest of the world despises us -- that voting-age citizens could sit back and not care. We are at such a pivotal point in the future of our nation, where we can actually sway the New Hampshire primary and thereby truly stimulate change in our nation's policies, that everyone should get involved in some way, whether by simply reading the newspaper to become knowledgeable about current issues or by heading the Students for John Edwards group.
The Dartmouth administration has luckily provided us an atmosphere that is conducive to political activism in a time when we can make a difference. I implore Dartmouth students, no matter if they support Howard Dean (as I do) or even our current President Bush, to attend the political lectures that we are fortunate enough to have by the likes of former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich and actual Democratic Presidential candidates, to take part in discussions sponsored by POLItalk and the First Year Forum, and to enmesh themselves in any way possible in the political wave of excitement that is sweeping our campus.
Do not allow laziness to overtake the ability to make our voices heard throughout the national spectrum. Dartmouth students have the power to turn the New Hampshire Democratic primary, which could in turn shift national momentum and ultimately affect the outcome of the election next year. Instead of indifferently watching primary season march by, take advantage of the fervor of political excitement that we have the power to alter, because we may never again wield this much influence.