I have been paying attention to politics since I was 11. I remember watching the Democratic primaries and the general election in 2008, and I have been paying very close attention to this election season since January.

I’ve always been curious about what the president does, and have always wanted to have some career in politics. I have so many ideas about what I would do if I was in any public office. But there is one thing wrong. I can’t vote.

I hope to have a career in politics, and have a very detailed plan about how I’m going to go about my career. I’m probably more interested in politics, and more knowledgeable in politics than the average adult

You can say that people under the age of 18 are not mature enough to have their own in-depth views on what a president should believe in and that’s understandable. But my argument is when it’s narrowed down to really only two different views, I think that most teenagers will be able to decide who they want out of those two. Those who can’t decide will just stay home and not vote.  

Another reason people above the age of 16 should vote is that young people share liberal ideas that align more with third party candidates and less with the major two political parties. Every day in Washington D.C. the two parties move farther and farther away from each other in terms of policies. The Republicans hold a majority in one house of Congress, and the Democrats hold a majority in the other house of Congress. When that happens nothing gets done.

The most popular and fastest growing third party in the United States is the Libertarian party. The Libertarian party believes in being socially liberal, and economically conservative. There was a poll that showed that most Americans are Libertarian. This is a party that is for the American people, but most Americans don’t know what Libertarianism is. But, if we lower the voting age, and start educating younger people about what Libertarianism is, we can start sending more politicians to Washington D.C. that truly represent the belief of most Americans.

As the Republican party keeps moving farther to the right, most socially accepting and younger Republicans are growing disappointed with the party as a whole, but they keep voting Republican because the Libertarian party gets no media attention. But if we start educating younger voters, and young people in general about politics, third party candidates will start to get more attention, and will soon join the Democrats and Republicans on the national stage. One of the best ways to do that is to let younger people vote.

There are a lot of differences between Mitt Romney and Barrack Obama. Romney believes in giving tax cuts to the rich, Obama believes in giving tax cuts to the poor and middle class. Romney wants to end welfare and Obama wants to keep giving it funding. A big thing the Democrats have been hammering Romney about is he said “I cannot convince 47 percent of the country to take fiscal responsibility of their own lives, and they will always vote Democrat,” not only was that a very ignorant comment for him to make, but it was a terrible thing to say for his campaign.

The two candidates are always looking to separate themselves. You can see it a lot during the debates, when they are constantly bickering and interrupting each other. That’s not how presidential candidates should act. I understand that they want to separate themselves for political gain, but they were acting very unprofessional on national TV. The most previous presidential debate showed us that they don’t want what’s good for the American people, but what’s better for their party.

America is at a crossroads. We can keep giving social programs more funding, keep giving tax cuts to people who make higher or lower income, and we can keep giving money to countries with corrupt dictators. Or we can cut funding, give everybody the same tax rate, and put America ahead of countries miles across an ocean. The choice is yours.