Choose the Best Answer from the Following:

I know it's a little early for most people to be thinking about what happens a year from now, but now that I finally have time to relax after a few study-filled days, I find myself looking towards the elections in 2008. Republican or Democrat? Will we elect a woman president? Will we elect an African-American president? A Vietnam War veteran? A friendly neighborhood ex-mayor?

I've never claimed to know anything substantial in the realm of politics, and I've never wanted to. It's an endless fight of public relations, ratings, and just getting the most votes. Politicians categorize themselves for the ease of the voters - Republican means you'll stay at war and emphasize security, Democrat means you'll work for the people who get overlooked. Why does it have to be one or the other? If I were to ever run for president (not happening) I would run as an independent, just to escape the endless labels and judgments that people place upon a party.

How about the fact that I don't know how to choose one or the other? I don't know how to choose my own security over the aid of the poor, and vice versa. I don't know how to vote against what my parents will vote, since I can take a guess at how they feel and see how my own opinions no longer mirror theirs. Suddenly I'm voting against the two people who taught me so much? Or are they right and I'm wrong, since they're the seasoned voters and know how to see politicians better than I do? Am I wrong to look for the humanity in a presidential candidate, since politicians are pretty much assumed to have as much compassion as a cardboard box?

I find myself looking at the candidates names and backgrounds and imagining seeing them in textbooks years from now. Would Hillary Clinton be the mistake of a first woman president who was no better than any man before her? Would Rudy Giuliani be one of those guys who looked good on the bill but cracked under the pressure of being a world leader? Would Barack Obama turn against the honesty he preaches, succumbing to the Republicans and failing to execute his exit plan from Iraq? Of course we don't know the answer. I can make positive and negative sentences about the presidency of each candidate: "John McCain was ineffective on the world level because of his deep personal connection to international warfare, and thus was criticized to bring his emotions to the business table."

OK I know that it sounds like I'm being negative here, but politics aren't really ever a positive subject, are they? It's all about who looks the best in the newspaper and on TV - it's all about image. I don't think I'll ever really get it for that reason, and I probably will never try that hard to get it. Yet I'm still at the point where whatever I choose could be a huge mistake - at least my vote is one of millions, and we're all in it together...