Last Post

Well this is the last of my posts. And I think I pretty much know who I will be voting for. But it all depends on which democrat gets the nomination.

If it’s Clinton vs. McCain, I will vote McCain

If it’s Obama vs. McCain, I will vote Obama

I know it doesn’t make any sense, but that is just how it is. I don’t know who I want for president, but I know who I don’t want, and that’s Hillary Clinton. I wish Michelle or Cindy were running, I would vote for them. But they will also both be great first ladies.

The election is still 6 months away and that’s half a year. So I still have time to figure things out. And I will probably changes my mind about a thousand more times before then, but for now, I’ll just keep learning about the candidates and vote for whoever my heart tells me to vote for. (as cheesy as that sounds.)

May the best man win, and not the only woman ☺

Cindy McCain on Jay Leno

For anyone that doesn’t know much about Cindy McCain, she is awesome. I saw her on Jay Leno last night. I guess she took flying lessons, became a pilot, and bought a plane without John McCain knowing. One day she just took him to the airport and told him what she was up to. Then for one of his campaigns, she was his pilot, because he didn’t have to pay her. Also, when John and Cindy first met, they both lied about their true ages. Cindy said she was 4 years older, and he lied that he was 4 years younger. And then she said that they didn’t know each other’s true ages until they went to register for their marriage license. I thought that was hilarious. If you want to watch her on Jay Leno, you can go to www.nbc.com. I’ve seen Michelle and Bill all over the place, but not very much of Cindy, so it was nice to see what she is like. She’s really down to earth and sweet.

Thoughts on Hillary C.

Well it looks like Hillary won the Pennsylvania primary. That is disappointing. I don’t know which party I am or whom I’m voting for, but I do know that I DO NOT want Hillary in the office. Everything about her irritates me. I don’t like her in debates, in interviews, or giving speeches. She seems fake to me, and like she is willing to do anything to be the president. And that scares me. I don’t like the way she debates, the way she laughs, and the way she brushed off the fact that she lied. She is no good, I’m telling you. Usually my family and friends affect my attitude towards politicians, because I just assume they know more than I do, but they don’t in this case. Many members of my family like Hillary, but that doesn’t make me like her. Whenever I see her on TV all I can see is the thirst for power in her eyes. She is no good.
When I first found out that Hillary Clinton was running for president, I just figured I would vote for her because she is a woman. Now, I absolutely cannot stand her. And if I know one thing for sure, it’s that I do not want her to be president.

My letter to Bill C.

My first experience with politics was in the first grade. It was just after the 1997 presidential election and Bill Clinton was out new president.
After learning about each presidential candidate and a few political vocabulary words, my teacher had us write to President Clinton. The letter I wrote was sent, but I did happen to come across the first draft, or the “sloppy copy” as my teacher would call it. The letter goes as follows.
(I was in 1st grade, so yes, there are typos and misspellings)
November 6th 1996
Dear President C.
I hope you are happy being prssident. Did you no I voted for you? I am glad you won the election.
Your freind Anna
About two months later “Bill” wrote me back. His letter goes as follows.
Dear Friend,
Thank you for writing to me. I’m pleased to hear that you are excited about our country. Today our economy is stronger, our streets are safer, out environment is cleaner, the world is more secure, and our nation is more united. We’ve made remarkable progress, but still much remains to be done. I will continue to do all that I can to make our country stronger, but I cannot do it alone. You must do your part, too. Together we can make a difference as we prepare for the twenty-first century.
Sincerely, Bill Clinton

Family Election

Last December when my entire family was at my grandparents for Christmas, we decided to have our own presidential election. This was when my inner politician first came out and I was interested in everything. So I got online and printed off information sheets on each presidential candidate. I passed them around to my family and we all had time to debate and discuss who would be a better president. We made a ballot box and ballots to pass around. We had two rounds of voting. First we chose a democrat and a republican. The two finalists were Obama and McCain. Then we handed out scraps of paper for everyone to write either Obama or McCain. On this particular day, I was feeling like a democrat so I voted for Obama. Then my cousin and I went into an empty room and counted the votes. Surprisingly, it was extremely close. If it were up to my family, McCain would be the next president. The final tally was Obama: 9 and McCain: 11. (We were missing one vote because my brother didn’t take the election seriously and he voted for President Palmer from 24.)

Pro-Life or Pro-Choice?

The one issue I go back and forth is abortion. Pro-life or Pro-choice? For most of my life I have been pro-choice, but that’s just because my artsy hippy friends are all pro-choice. But now that I have been off at college and making new friends and making up my own mind, I sometimes find myself very Pro-life. I Googled “partial-birth abortion” the other day, which I would not recommend doing, and I was shocked at what the process was. The day after pill I can maybe understand, but not partial-birth abortion. And that’s what really stops me from liking Obama. His wife Michelle is very Pro-choice and believes in partial-birth abortion very much, which I can just not understand. I’m pretty sure I’m going to end up being pro-life, but right now I’m not sure. And also, I don’t think this world is that great to live in, so why would I want more babies to come into it? It’s easier to be pro-choice, because then I would for sure vote Obama, but I want to really know what I believe in. Unfortunately I don’t think I’ll have all my beliefs figured out by this November. So I have no idea who I will be voting for.

Minnesota Delegate

Being a Minnesota Delegate is not that exciting. As a part of the Hennepin County Republican Party I was called to convene at the Medina Entertainment Center last February 23rd to consider the endorsement of candidates for Commissioner Districts 5,6, and 7.
So I woke up early, yes 8:00 a.m. is early to me, and went to the convention. When I arrived, I had to stand outside in a line of about a hundred people. The line stretched through the packed parking lot and I have never seen so many Republican bumper stickers. It took about 30 minutes to finally get inside the building. I remember the man behind me said, “It takes less time that this to join the army.” That made me laugh.
When I got in, I paid my $8.00 registration fee and then I was sent to another line. The main room was packed. I some how squeezed my way into another line where I stood for another 10 minutes. When I finally got to the front of the line, I was told that I was not on the list and that I have to go back to the registration table. So I went found my way into another line and they finally found me on the list. After that I went back into the crowded room and stood in line again. This time I got a nametag and I was sent to the section of tables with yellow balloons (section 5, District 63). As I was finding my seat, we sang the national anthem.
Then a woman got up on stage and went over the delegate count according to the each district. This was like, as she said, listening to someone read from the telephone book. After she was done a man got up on stage and had everyone who were delegates for the first time raise their hand. To me it looked like almost everyone raised their hand. I was surprised.
Then a man named Randy Johnson got up on stage and talked for a while. I guess he was the guy we were going to be voting for. Someone nominated him, and another person seconded the nomination. Then we all voted. There was a motion, and those who endorsed him said I, and those who opposed said Nay. Everyone said I, except one person yelled out Nay, I think as a joke. Randy thanked everyone and then talked about supporting McCain for president.
After that, my section was aloud to leave. So I did. I suppose it was a good experience, but honesty I don’t even know what I voted for. I don’t even know what position Randy Johnson will now be in. I think he is District 5’s new commissioner, but I’m not even sure. I would do some research, but I don’t care that much I guess.
To be honest, I thought being a delegate had more to do with the presidential election, but that’s not until the national convention, which I won’t be able to make anyways. Oh well, it’s fun to say that I am a Minnesota Delegate.

Super Tuesday!

It was 1:57am on February 5, and I had butterflies in my stomach because I could finally update my Facebook status to say, “Happy Super Tuesday Everyone!!!” I could hardly sleep that night I was so excited to caucus. It was finally Minnesota’s time to shine!
The sun was setting and I still didn’t know whether I was going to the democratic caucus or the republican caucus. Some republican members of my family even went to the democratic caucus to vote for Obama. Hillary is the last person they want to see in office, so they crossed sides for the night and voted against her.
I ended up going to the republican caucus with my mom at Richfield High School. We got there a little late and the caucus had already been called to order. We were in the French classroom, I remember because of the large Eiffel Tower on the wall. The room was packed and every desk was taken, so we had to sit on the floor. There were maybe four other students my age, but other wise it was mostly middle aged folks. A woman in front of me, sitting in a desk, was ripping up white pieces of paper. “Are those are voting ballots?” I wondered.
At first I had no idea what was going on. The caucus chairman had already been elected by the precinct before we got there. He was at the front of the classroom reading directions aloud. And before I knew it, we were voting for two tellers. If I would have known what was going on, I would have volunteered. Two people were nominated and elected to be the caucus tellers.
Then we were voted for delegates and alternates. I whispered to my mom, “Nominate me.” So she raised her hand and nominated me to be a delegate. It was quite exciting. (Turns out that those ripped up pieces of paper we used for voting ballots for the delegate/alternative election.)
The second the clock hit 8:00pm, the Presidential voting ballots were handed out. I put a little check by Mitt Romney’s name and folded my ballot. But then, a man came around and started collecting the ballots in his hand. This surprised me. I thought for sure there would be at least a box or an envelope to put our ballots in. (Later when I got home, I researched it, and according to caucus rules, there should have been a box or an envelope for us to put our ballots in.)
As our ballots we being counted, we discussed two resolutions. One was about the cost of drugs and medicine, which failed, and the other was concerning our judicial system, which passed. (If I would have known that we could bring up issues at our caucus, I would have suggested that Minnesota should be the first to caucus, not Iowa! ☺)
Finally, the moment I had been waiting for came. The chairman took the dry erase pen and wrote results of the Presidential caucus election. I saw the name Mitt Romney go up on the white board and then I saw the number 2. But before I could make a sigh from disappointment, I saw the number 1 written right next to it! Romney got 21 votes! He won! Here were the results.
Huckabee 5
McCain 6
Romney 21
Paul 10
Thompson 2
After the caucus was over, I rushed over to my Grandparents house to see how their caucus went. I was so excited about the night and about Romney winning, that I forgot to tell them I was a delegate! After they went to bed, I stayed up and watched the results of Super Tuesday. I wrote all of the states and their winners on a large poster board, so when Grandma and Grandpa woke up, they could see who won which states.
Over all it was a great night, and I can’t wait until the next caucus in 2012!

Why does Iowa get the first say?

I belong to a very political involved family. During family gatherings, there is usually political talk, and it’s during these talks that I either space out or leave the room. But, this last Christmas, for some reason, I stuck it out. And the first thing that intrigued my inner politician was the Iowa caucus. I was extremely upset that their state was the first to caucus. I didn’t understand why Iowa got the first say. And from then on, things got interesting.

I started asking more questions about more things. Like what on earth is a caucus? Who are the candidates running? And the big one, who should I vote for? I was sucked in. I had sucked myself into politics. My excuse for never knowing anything about politics was that it was corrupt, stupid, and a waste of my time. But that idea was quickly taken over by my curiosity.

I started doing some of my own research. And this led to more questions. What is universal health care? What is stem-cell research? What is line-item veto? I felt like the more I knew, the more I didn’t know. How can everything be so this or that? Why is everything either right or wrong? Isn’t there a middle ground? I felt like it had to be 100% agree or 100% disagree, but what about the 100% I really just don’t know?

Am I an Elephant or a Donkey?

The 2008 presidential election is coming up, and like many of you, I have no idea who I am going to vote for. I don’t even know if I am democrat or republican. Am I pro-life or pro-choice? Am I pro-torture or anti-torture? Do I believe it’s best to leave Iraq, or stay? Honestly, I have no idea! And it’s driving me up a wall! So, bear with me as I go back and forth from democrat to republican to maybe even an independent.