By ROBERT RICH
The Palestine Herald
February 23, 2008 11:40 pm
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If you’ve been keeping up with the Democratic presidential race, you’re probably aware of the event that took place this past Thursday here at UT. Senators Barrack Obama and Hilary Clinton brought their politicking skills to the university’s Recreational Sports Center for a debate. Hosted by and televised on CNN, this was a pretty big deal, but not surprisingly, something was a little out of whack and didn’t seem to make much sense. That something was the fact that very, VERY few students got to attend the debate.
When the debate was first announced, it caused quite a stir, and yours truly was extremely excited, as I hoped I’d get to attend and watch Obama tear that mistress of mayhem apart. But those hopes were soon shattered when the location of the debate was announced, and subsequently the fact that it would not be open to the public, operating on an invitation only system. Turns out, about half the tickets went to CNN people, and the other half was split amongst the Texas Democratic Party, SOME students and numerous other groups.
I understand that not every single ticket can go to students and that other people have to be given the opportunity to attend these historic debates. However, what makes me angry is the fact that CNN advertised that the debates were happening at the University of Texas, which technically was true, but it also implied that the students attending the university were able to go. That was in fact not the case, and it seems that the only reason UT was chosen and named so often was to play up the fact that the presidential races are an important academic event.
I was still able to watch the debates on TV, and see Hillary routinely giving Obama a pretentious smirk, but this is a matter of principle. Once again, even though these debates are supposed to be about helping people decide which candidate they want to vote for and ensuring that “regular people” are able to make an informed decision, it seems that many of those regular people are getting shut out. It’s all about the elite and about CNN, the Democratic equivalent of FOX News’ sensationalistic tendencies.
I guess I should’ve seen this coming, especially since I’m not rich and I don’t routinely give money to presidential campaigns. That’s just the way our society works, and you’d think I be used to it, but the fact is that I’m not. I still think I and the other 49,000 students at this university should be able to witness one of the most important events of our generation, but apparently not everyone feels that way. You always hear the reports about how young people aren’t involved in politics or seem like they don’t care, well maybe it’s because of situations like this. You want us actively involved but limit our opportunities to participate and interact with the political sphere. What’s up with that? Give us a reason to participate, make us feel involved, don’t shut us out when you bring a huge event like a debate to OUR campus.
One final note, and I’m going to keep bugging you about this. Go vote. Early voting has begun, and I did my duty last week. I hope you’re doing the same. Participate, be involved in the history of your country. I may be angry about not getting to attend the debates, but I still recognize the privilege and responsibility I have when it comes to voting for the leaders of my nation. I hope you realize this too.
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Robert Rich is a sophomore journalism major at the University of Texas at Austin. He graduated from Westwood High School in 2006. He can be reached via e-mail at robert.rich@mail.utexas.edu
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