Vote today. Vote because it is your privilege and it is your right. Vote to be heard and to make a difference. Vote because several Supreme Court justices are approaching retirement. Go to the polls with purposeful optimism, knowing that you are steering the course of history. By choosing not to participate, we as young adults give up our precious right to engage the system and affect change.
Cast your vote for Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry because he has the courage to lead this country in a new direction and the experience to get the job done. John Kerry is the real deal. John Kerry could have been president yesterday. He does not need the job training. Sen. Kerry will not depend on a staff of advisors to explain to him the map of the world and the domestic challenges facing the nation.
During his 18 years of service on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, John Kerry has distinguished himself as a seasoned leader and one of our nation’s most respected voices on national security and international affairs. A decorated combat veteran of Vietnam and the son of an American diplomat, he has been out front in the battle to control the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, modernize our military, promote democracy and respect for human rights abroad and improve our homeland security. John Kerry knows something about aircraft carriers for real. America can and must do better than President George W. Bush’s inane rhetoric.
John Kerry offers America a comprehensive strategy to win the peace in Iraq. He is committed to building a strong international coalition to advance the objectives of freedom and democracy in a land where suspicion and resistance reign. John Kerry believes that the United States is strongest when it does not walk alone. We need a president who will lead the nations of the world into a new era of security, freedom and peace. John Kerry’s foreign policy experience is unquestioned and unmatched. As president, John Kerry will raise the standard of leadership at home and abroad.
Three million jobs have been lost under George W. Bush’s watch. John Kerry will fight to keep jobs in the United States. He will fight to provide American workers with the employment security they deserve. Kerry has proposed creating jobs through a new manufacturing jobs credit, by investing in new energy industries, restoring technology and stopping layoffs in education. Job creation will be John Kerry’s top priority.
Young Americans should look critically at the economic crises affecting the United States. I am tired of being trickled on by Bush’s economic schemes. Young Americans are not reaping the benefits of Bush’s tax cuts. More than five million people between the ages of 16 and 24 are unemployed, according to 2003 statistics; at close to 10 percent unemployment, we are bearing the weight of the country’s economic woes on our shoulders. We need a president who will make our futures a priority. We need jobs!
Over the past two years, the cost of attending a public four-year college has increased by 10 percent and the cost of attending a public two-year college has increased by 8 percent. Students are leaving college with more debt than ever before and many students are dropping out altogether because they cannot pay the bills. John Kerry believes that all Americans deserve the opportunity to attend college. It is critical to their future and to our nation’s economy.
John Kerry’s plan will create a new “College Opportunity Tax Credit” that will provide a credit for each and every year of college on the first $4,000 paid in tuition – the typical tuition for public colleges. The credit will provide 100 percent of the first $1,000 and 50 percent on the rest. It will also make this credit refundable so that it helps the most vulnerable students. John Kerry has also proposed a “Service for College” plan, which will provide the cost of four years at a public college to young people in exchange for serving their communities and country in national service for two years. His plan says to all students, if you work hard and give to your country, your country will make sure you can afford a college education no matter who you are.
I support John Kerry for president because he has proven to me that he cares about students and the issues that affect us. John Kerry is the only Democratic presidential candidate that visited a college other than Harvard University in the Boston-area this fall. John Kerry spoke directly to students at BU and at Northeastern University in December 2003. The student group BU for John Kerry has more than 350 members on campus. Students at BU have put in thousands of unpaid hours on John Kerry’s campaign. Students are for Kerry because Kerry is for students. I encourage you to go the polls and cast your vote for John Kerry, not simply because he will beat Bush in November, but because he is the best man for the job and he has your interests in mind.
Samantha Shusterman is a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences and the president of BU Students for John Kerry.
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