2008 Woodie Awards
Editorial: Be proactive and vote smart
Issue date: 11/6/07 Section: Editorial/Opinion
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11/06/07 - It might be easy for some to recognize the name of 2008 Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson, seeing as he plays D.A. Arthur Branch on the incredibly popular show, "Law and Order." Or maybe Democratic presidential candidate and U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton tickles your fancy. Other presidential candidates, like former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani and U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, have made the headlines of newspapers and television programs across the country for other reasons.
But what about the other candidates? Project Vote Smart, dubbed the country's new "Voter's Self-Defense System," aspires to give un-biased information on any candidate you'd like to know about, providing biographical information, issue positions, voting records, campaign finances and performance evaluations, even if they've got less money in the bank than the typical frontrunner.
Not only does the "Vote Smart" bus provide a rolling library of information on presidential candidates, but it is a source of information on 40,000 candidates for public office at all levels of government.
Though its purpose is to prepare the nation to "defend themselves against the rhetoric and misinformation that come out of political campaigns today," it's also an opportunity for students to learn more about candidates that don't get optimum press coverage.
No one wants to do in-depth research on presidential candidates in their spare time, which is hard to acquire as a college student in general. It requires less work to look at the television, searching the clips for a flash of John McCain or Giuliani.
But the Vote Smart bus rolled up yesterday as another easy way for students to obtain more information on certain candidates. The program's Web site provides all of the information you could ever want to know about presidential candidates right there in front of you.
The Vote Smart Web site explains it clearly: its mission has nothing to do with "getting out the vote." It's not asking students to vote, but to be educated before making any kind of voting decisions.
Every year, candidates and legislators alike complain about how not enough people vote in the presidential election. But there is a new wave of young, educated voters out there, and you can only imagine the possibilities if the URI campus just went through the trouble of clicking a mouse and checking out what candidate Ron Paul thinks. There is now more access to candidate information than this country has ever seen, including Web sites like Vote Smart. Do your part and start now.
But what about the other candidates? Project Vote Smart, dubbed the country's new "Voter's Self-Defense System," aspires to give un-biased information on any candidate you'd like to know about, providing biographical information, issue positions, voting records, campaign finances and performance evaluations, even if they've got less money in the bank than the typical frontrunner.
Not only does the "Vote Smart" bus provide a rolling library of information on presidential candidates, but it is a source of information on 40,000 candidates for public office at all levels of government.
Though its purpose is to prepare the nation to "defend themselves against the rhetoric and misinformation that come out of political campaigns today," it's also an opportunity for students to learn more about candidates that don't get optimum press coverage.
No one wants to do in-depth research on presidential candidates in their spare time, which is hard to acquire as a college student in general. It requires less work to look at the television, searching the clips for a flash of John McCain or Giuliani.
But the Vote Smart bus rolled up yesterday as another easy way for students to obtain more information on certain candidates. The program's Web site provides all of the information you could ever want to know about presidential candidates right there in front of you.
The Vote Smart Web site explains it clearly: its mission has nothing to do with "getting out the vote." It's not asking students to vote, but to be educated before making any kind of voting decisions.
Every year, candidates and legislators alike complain about how not enough people vote in the presidential election. But there is a new wave of young, educated voters out there, and you can only imagine the possibilities if the URI campus just went through the trouble of clicking a mouse and checking out what candidate Ron Paul thinks. There is now more access to candidate information than this country has ever seen, including Web sites like Vote Smart. Do your part and start now.