For reasons that are not clear to me, this upcoming Presidential election is evidently going to be very close.
Think of yourself as an employer (which is what you are in this case). Do you hire the 72 year old man who thinks things in your company are going great and should continue on the track they’ve been going, or do you pick the 47 year old man with energy, ideas and a plan to make your company even better? The choice seems pretty obvious…do you want to look to the past or the future.
Cory Doctorow’s Little Brother got me thinking about this election in a slightly different way, especially with his slogan “Never trust anyone under 25.”
If you’re under 25 (or even under 30, let’s be honest) and thinking of voting for McCain, you really need to double and triple check yourself.
Oh, and if you’re eligible to vote and you’re thinking of skipping this election, then this paragraph is just for you. I’m not going to preach anything about how to run your life, but I want to impress this upon you: it will take just a few minutes to vote. This election has the potential to impact your future in monumental ways. You may not even give a moments thought to what your life will be like in twenty years. But imagine how mad your future self will be if things turn out rotten in twenty years and you think, if I had only voted in 2008, I could have made a difference. So, go vote. Your future self will thank you.
Anyhow, there are dozens of reasons not to vote for McCain and you can find them just about anywhere. But this particular reason is of special interest to anyone under 25: McCain is not interested in the internet or email. This is not recent news. It was stated in an interview with the New York Times in July. Read this excerpt from July 13, 2008:
Q: But do you go on line for yourself?
Mr. McCain: They go on for me. I am learning to get online myself, and I will have that down fairly soon, getting on myself. I don’t expect to be a great communicator, I don’t expect to set up my own blog, but I am becoming computer literate to the point where I can get the information that I need – including going to my daughter’s blog first, before anything else.
Q: Do you use a blackberry or email?
Mr. McCain: No
Mark Salter: He uses a BlackBerry, just ours.
Mr. McCain: I use the Blackberry, but I don’t e-mail, I’ve never felt the particular need to e-mail. I read e-mails all the time, but the communications that I have with my friends and staff are oral and done with my cell phone.
I highlighted the parts in red that are particularly astonishing. (And this is before one of McCain’s staffers said that McCain helped to invent the Blackberry.) (more…)
I Just Read About That... 