Voting Dilemma

In an NPR post titled “Are Americans Ready to Shift from Traditional Vote?” Michel Martin illustrated the importance of “the identity of Americans,” showing how people are influenced by their perceived “traditional voting roles.” Martin raised the question of whether voters are going to think critically in this election, or whether they will conform to social expectations. People’s political views are going to be influenced by their interactions with society and the mainstream media, and their abilities to be neutral are challenged by their environment. At the same time, a person may need access to a variety of resources in order to form a balanced outlook about the presidential candidates. The difficulty is in organizing the available information and getting a clear picture of the election. Our discussion about the effect of the media shows that in some respect, people have not been receiving the coverage that would allow them to stay in tune with the presidential race in a responsible manner. Think about the recent hype about "Sarah Palin’s wardrobe," or that Obama is a "socialist." Today, Senator Barack Obama reiterated ‘“In one week…”’ His “speech” pointed to the reality of next week’s election. The votes will soon be counted, but there is still time to pause and ask ourselves what the candidates are really telling us, and what we need to do to make an informed decision.