Texas primary prime for Democrats, Obama
Not long ago, many political observers wrote off the importance of states that held their Presidential Primaries after Feb. 5, dubbing places like Texas a mere epilogue to the extravaganza of Super Tuesday’s contests. I would talk to friends around the country as they nonchalantly recounted attending intimate political rallies and meeting their favorite presidential candidates. They reassured me that someday I would get the chance to see Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton outside of my college-salary-sized television. Well, as every gun-toting-cattle-herding Texan will soon find out, my friends were right.
Hundreds of campaign staffers are on their way, millions of dollars will be spent on rallies and advertisements, and candidates will be making final pleas to the citizens of Texas. Throughout this exciting time, I urge us students to approach the next three weeks with an inquisitive and grounded mentality. It can be easy to immediately jump over to whichever campaign presents the simplest and most idealistic solutions, yet, as any politician or economist will tell you, there are no easy solutions to our health care crisis, to fight terror or to immigration reform.
I was at a Baker Institute event earlier this week where the Junior Senator from Massachusetts was speaking about the politics of the environment. As the 2004 Democratic nominee for president, John Kerry gave a compelling argument for moving beyond the science of climate change and combating global warming with American ingenuity and innovation. After Kerry’s speech, I had the opportunity to ask him a question: “How do we get students more educated and more involved in this movement?” He took a few seconds before answering with two familiar words: “Barack Obama.” Coming from a man who has partnered with Al Gore since 1987 on some of the most progressive environmental legislation, these two words mean a great deal.
When choosing a presidential candidate to support, the two questions at the forefront of my mind are: Who will be the best for our country, and who will best represent my values and ideals? Although Barack Obama has undergone much scrutiny and criticism throughout this primary, the one argument I do not hear from any side is that Barack Obama will not best serve and unite our generation.
Obama strongly advocates for extensive education reform and for providing sufficient financial aid to allow more Americans our age to attend college. No other candidate has spent as much time working with our age group. He has student chapters at 600-plus college and high school campuses across the nation, including 20 throughout the state of Texas. Obama — the only candidate running who is not a baby boomer — counts on our age group as a major constituency and will be obligated to protect our rights and needs.
The third and final viewpoint I will put forward is that Barack Obama has a unique opportunity to unite our country. A look at who has voted for him so far shows that he counts on support from a diverse coalition of white, black, old, young, democrat, independent and, yes, republicans. Can you imagine what America could accomplish if an overwhelming majority supported the president? The last time this was the case, America helped bring an end to the Cold War.
Of course, there is no perfect candidate running for President. You will have to make the choice on more experience versus better judgment, on smaller versus bigger government, on older versus younger. If we can keep a grounded and curious mindset, I have no doubt that each one of us will come to the right decision on who will best represent ourselves and our country. As we have seen in two of the primaries thus far — New Mexico and Missouri — the fight for delegates can be decided by a few people and our campus could very well have a reverberating say in who are the presidential nominees. If you are planning on traveling over spring break you can still make your vote count by voting early, starting Feb. 19. Our state has an open primary, meaning that you do not have to be a member of any party to vote for their nominee.
Nick Hambley is a Will Rice College senior and the Western Regional Coordinator for the student wing of Obama for America.
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