Politics... As Usual?

Editors Note: Paula is the newest NYC Student Blogger. She reps the Bronx and will be tackling more general NYC youth issues and ideas with her own literary style (she is a known for her skills as an ill poet and performer). Enjoy! -Seth

This aphorism is one of the most annoying, and outrageous phrases that we as nation have decided to accept and stand behind. "Politics as usual." Isn't the point of politics to generate change within the government? To stand true to a nation, accepting all of its CHANGES!!! It is evident that as the election rolls around the corner, candidates like BARACK OBAMA and HILARY CLINTON have gone against "politics as usual".

With the announcement that Obama was entering the presidential race more than eight months ago, the junior senator from Illinois electrified the electorate like a certain Bill Clinton, back in 92. One noted difference is that I was still a baby, young and technologically limited. The irony, of course, is that man's wife, Senator Hillary Clinton, is proving to be Obama's greatest obstacle on the road to the Democratic nomination. Polls in the past few months suggest that Clinton has strengthened and in some cases widened her lead over Obama, including among black voters.

This is where "politics" meets its exception, Obama still maintains a strong online presence: His Internet fund-raising power has been massive, and his overall influence on the younger generation has blossomed. If MySpace friends and Facebook supporters (my self included) equaled electoral votes — his current friends list total is more than 180,000, well ahead of any of his rivals — the young senator would have this in the bag. And if the "Obama-mania" of early '07 has subsided a bit, maybe it's because people are just taking a closer, more serious look at what this man is all about.

Everything about him is fresh. It is unclear as to what is going to happen come PRIMARY DAY, but it is safe to assume that the majority of young Americans have given up on "POLITICS AS USUAL." It's time for politics that create change.