Baltimore Young People Get Excited About National Politics And Ignore Local Politics

September 7, 6:59 PMBaltimore Politics ExaminerAdam Meister

Previous Next

7 comments Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Baltimore Politics Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

We live in a city that is falling apart on a lot of different levels. While Baltimore sputters we have many college students and other young people who are becoming quite active in the Obama campaign living amongst us. Bars are having Obama fund raisers and 20-somethings are praising him at parties. In 2007 we had a local primary election where only 28 percent of registered voters voted and where 2008's newly minted political junkies/followers did not see to give a darn.

Young people need to understand that the biggest difference they can make is on the local level. In the 2007 election any citizen of Baltimore could have met any of the candidates for mayor many times. I think our local government is corrupt and bloated but during local election season the candidates are very accessible. Most citizens of Baltimore will never have a chance to even be in the same room as a candidate for president.

If young people would organize and get enthusiastic about local elections then we could have real immediate CHANGE in Baltimore. Obama appears to be so flashy and exciting but in reality the biggest splash that could be made by Obama's Baltimore volunteers would be if they all got together and supported outsider candidates for local offices. It may not seem as trendy to be involved in local politics when compared to Obama, but participation on the local level could lead to a revolution of sorts in Baltimore.  For now I guess we will just have to suffer through more 28 percent turnout Baltimore elections and the status quo.