by Allison
Roberts
Managing editor
Voting democratic in this election is an action I think every woman, young adult, LGBT, minority and middle- or lower-income person in America should make this November. It’s a simple case of looking out for our own best interests.
The reasons I am voting to reelect President Obama are numerous, but the main ones are his positions on civil rights, education and energy.
Civil rights should not even be an issue in the U.S. in 2012, yet somehow it still is, and Obama is the main candidate speaking out in support of equal rights for all.
Women should not have to fight for the right to control our decisions regarding our own bodies. We should not have to fight for the right of equal pay for equal work.
We should not have to fight for easy and affordable access to birth control or potentially life-saving preventative healthcare. Speaking of healthcare, we also shouldn’t have to fight against health insurance cost discrimination.
Unfortunately, we do have to fight for those things now because for too long, politicians have shushed us and expected us to be happy with “how far we’ve come” toward equal rights despite it not being far enough.
And one of the best ways I can think of to do it is to elect politicians who support the same equality ideals that I do (hint for the polls this November: it’s Obama).
Another should-be non-issue is LGBT rights. It should not be an issue because these groups of people should already have the same marriage rights as heterosexual couples and all the benefits that come with having a marriage license.
Yet again, unfortunately it is an issue, so I along with many other Americans will be fighting for LGBT rights by casting our votes for the first president to openly support gay marriage and make efforts to eliminate legal discrimination against the LGBT community.
Holding the U.S. back from marriage equality is a repeat offender: religion in law. Something supporters of religion-based laws like to use as a defense is that our country was founded in large part to allow freedom of religion.
I think many people are missing that it also protects Americans’ freedom to practice religions other than Christianity or to practice no religion at all.
There is also—rather, there is supposed to be—separation of church and state in our government. Religion should not dictate law, nor should law dictate religion.
Marriage equality has been denied for too long for religious reasons, and it is beyond me why so many people honestly believe that their religion should determine whether other people are allowed to marry each other.
Hopefully within the next four years, our country will progress rather than regress on this issue, and we can move into an accepting and fair future.
Speaking of the future, those of us paying to earn a degree to hopefully better our future careers should be voting for Obama because of his track record of making college education more affordable for most Americans.
I’m not sure what Mitt Romney was thinking with his comment about borrowing money from parents if students can’t afford college, but I would rather have a president who takes reality into account when considering Pell Grant funding, student loan interest rates and student loan debt repayment plans.
Obama is also in touch with reality when it comes to energy plans for the U.S.
I hate to break it to people who think the president himself has the power to directly raise or lower gas prices, but he doesn’t. However, Obama is raising the standards for fuel efficiency in vehicles, which ultimately saves gas money.
Further, he supports investments in alternative renewable energy sources because, believe it or not, our planet does not have a never ending supply of oil.
Ultimately, I just want a president who cares about and protects the rights of all Americans, who is proactive about improving the educational system and who understands that Americans do not own the earth and all its resources.
My vote will go to Obama, and for the sake of our future, I hope yours does too.