With the United States 2012 presidential race in full swing, this year’s elections are getting mixed reviews at UT, as some students believe the outcome is critical for America’s future while others call the elections lackluster and irritating.
The American financial crisis is the predominant issue affecting students’ voting decisions. Add to that the varying political and ideological viewpoints each student maintains, and the responses to this year’s elections are extremely diverse.
Many students are confident in their party selections and have already made a decision as to which presidential candidate they will support. Others are unsure of which direction they will cast their ballot, while some are refusing to vote entirely.
Justin Hickerson, president of UT’s College Republicans, will vote for Mitt Romney in this year’s elections. After comparing the candidates’ political records, Hickerson says that his endorsement of Romney stems from his confidence that the Republican candidate will create jobs and reverse America’s financial deficit.
“We need to elect Mitt Romney because he is serious about the economy and our nation’s debt,” Hickerson said. “Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan’s slogan is ‘America’s Comeback Team.’ I feel confident that they will create jobs in America, reign in the debt and put America on the right track again.”
Kasey Piarrot, judge for the Tennessee Speech and Debate Society, says that she is unsure if she will vote in the upcoming election.
“I’m not sure,” Piarrot said. “I’ve gone back and forth, because on a financial level I agree with the Republicans, but on basically all other topics I lean left. I just need to look into some more things, I think.”
Nathan Johnston, senior in journalism and electronic media, says that he will not be voting in this election due to his disagreement with the structural set-up of the American voting process.
“I think democracy is fantastic and being represented appropriately is necessary for our government to function,” Johnston said. “However, I feel like structurally speaking our government is set up contrary to those beliefs right now. Democrats living in predominately red states and Republicans in blue states are deterred from voting currently in the Electoral College system because their votes don’t matter. Combine that with Congressman tenure being at an all-time high, and Congress productivity being at an all-time low, voting is becoming more and more trivial and less meaningful all the time. Bring in popular voting and Congressman tenure, and I’ll be first in line to vote.”
Johnston added that he views the current race as “annoying,” believing Americans expect an immediate change with each new presidential term.
“This race is particularly annoying to me. One, because Americans’ need to realize that no one person can magically fix the whole world in 4-8 years. Two, because candidates need to quit making promises to fix everything in 4-8 years. … We need to realize that the president is a figurehead. He has some power, but not enough to single-handedly change the world. We need to have realistic expectations of what can be done in a term,” said Johnston.
Despite contrasting political beliefs, all students seem to agree that individuals should vote only if they are informed about the candidates and their positions.
Christopher Thomas, senior in English rhetoric and writing, will cast his vote for the re-election of Barack Obama this year and hopes that other voters inform themselves about the issues before submitting their own ballots.
“I certainly think voting is a choice, but only the learned should be voting,” Thomas said. “I don’t like blind voters — people who are pressured into voting despite little knowledge of the issues. Some people do not have the time, others do not want to understand. Regardless, they do not belong behind that curtain because others told them to be there. And I don’t want them there. … Voting is an intellectual process, and it needs time and research. Don’t vote if you do not know what you are voting for.”
Regarding the question of how many UT students will vote in the upcoming election, the answers vary, but most contend that student voter turnout will be much lower than in previous elections.
Joseph Carpenter, emeritus chair of UT’s libertarian group “Students for Liberty,” believes a lack of education in the voting process will contribute to a lower student voter turnout.
“There is little education for students with respect to how they are supposed to go about voting,” Carpenter said. “Coupled with the lack of voting booths in the UC or on campus, I think that student turnout will be lower than it otherwise could and should be.”
Regardless of party affiliation, nearly all UT students state that they want to see economic improvement throughout the next presidential term, and those on the fence about their voting decision say that financial security will be the determining factor in their final ballot selection.
Students are also urging others to improve their own political education, saying that being knowledgeable about the issues will result in more intelligent future voting decisions.
“I want a change in Americans,” Thomas said. “I am sick of the politically passive-aggressive American. I think anyone can be a political theorist, but it requires more than an hour of MSNBC every day.”
