Washington Week: Student Voices (O)

COLUMN: We're all in search of a great political leader
By Christian Alexandersen
The Daily Athenaeum (West Virginia U.)
02/27/2006

(U-WIRE) MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — When choosing a political candidate for office, the decision inevitably comes down to one question: Would you rather be punched in the face or kicked in the groin?

Because of our lackluster and uninspiring choices, we are forced to choose the lesser of two morons. In the past, we have had leaders that inspired a nation while achieving so much in the face of adversity.

In the past 20 years, the United States has had a recession of great minds in the realm of politics, civil rights and religion. Every college, including West Virginia University, preaches that current students are the future of the country, yet for the past two decades, no one has stepped up.

It's scary to think that I might have played beer pong with a future political leader. In the past two presidential elections the voters were forced to choose the lesser of two evils. These mediocre candidates are not befitting of a great nation.

In the past, politics have had great thinkers like FDR, Kennedy and Wilson, and civil rights had Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr., who all made a difference in the world we live in today. Since the '60s, millions of Americans have had the chance to step up and change the world, yet since the aforementioned leaders, we have been left in the dark.

Help Wanted: Smart, open-minded, charismatic college graduates hoping to bring the nation together through b old thinking and international cooperation. Must be able to work weekends, follow the U.S. Constitution and accurately represent the American public. Some light typing required.

Maybe an advertisement like this would bring more candidates to the campaign trail and less mindless talking heads. Everyone likes to say they are team players and that they work well with others, yet our religious, political and civil rights leaders have done nothing but separate themselves from the people they represent.

President Bush is obviously the most prominent politician in the country, and the majority are not only uninspired by him, but they don't even think he's capable of doing his job. Pat Robinson, an influential Christian religious leader, has only inspired Americans to assassinate foreign leaders. And the last time I looked, the last true civil rights fighter was Coretta Scott King, and she died recently.

Who is going to lead this country to the promised land? I understand that today's politicians have to walk in the shoes of giants, but this country needs smart, dedicated leaders to bring it out from the rock we crawled under.

Americans can no longer sit quietly while their country is being run by the lesser of two evils. Great thinkers like Kennedy, MLK and lesser-known religious leaders saw a problem with the country and felt they could change it. Leaders today are out for campaign money or tax-free donations rather than to bring this country into the 21st century.

Though we haven't grown up with the "I Have a Dream" speech, it is our responsibility to stop political, religious and civil rights hacks from taking the spotlight away from actual reformers.

This is our wakeup call, and it's time to go to work.

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