Students and citizens,
The day is finally upon us. After a campaign for the U.S. Preisdency that felt like an eternity, tomorrow is Election Day. By midnight, it should be official: voters will reveal the 44th president.
Even if few high school students can vote due to age restriction, what does this election mean for us? How will a McCain presidency affect the country, or an Obama one?
All rhetoric aside, students must take the lead in their school communities in addressing the policy implications of the Nov. 4 victor.
- What does this mean for health care? Sure, as high schoolers, you are covered by your parents, should they be fortunate to have insurance. And even if they do…as a college student, let me tell you firsthand, that luxury doesn’t last forever.
- What can we expect in terms of troop withdrawal, and the war in general? Faced with a failing economy and less than stellar loan prospects, many high school students will enlist in the military as a way to finance their college career. Will they face an Iraq/Afghanistan tour?
- What about all this change? Both candidates marketed their campaign as a prospect of change – but how is that change tangibly defined?
If Obama wins and you choose to write about the historic election of the nation’s first black president, read this column by Poynter’s dean, Keith Woods. It poses questions to consider, angles to find, including this:
Tomorrow is the exciting part — Americans meet their next President.
Then, it’s time for the tough questions.
