Equal Oppurtunity

I think this amendment brings up a pretty fine line between doing the best for our country and not being discriminatory. It's really hard to make up a law for this because it varies from each personal situation. I think that a person who is not born in America should be able to be President, but have to follow many rules in order to be eligible, such as number of years of citizenship, age, etc. I think this mostly because America is supposed to be the land of opportunity. If a person moves here set on being a leader and works hard to get there, even if they're weren't born here, I don't think they should be denied that opportunity. It is a very fine line because on one hand, if a person moved here when they were five years old, that's close enough to being born here that they shouldn't be denied. It is hard to say if anyone is wanting to be in such a high position to use the powers in a questionable way, American or not. Americans are just as capable as non-Americans to corrupt the government however they wish. It's certainly something to be careful about, and I know Americans will be. They are already bashing Obama for being a communist, a foreigner, a terrorist, etc. and he WAS born in America.

Pardoning

If I were the President, I think I would use the pardoning option but in a limited way. Most likely, all of the cases coming through have gone through courts and courts of deciding their punishment. Therefore, I think that those who came to the decision of their punishment had a reason for making it what it is. Of course there are going to be some mishaps here and there but assigning punishments are these judges official jobs, and hopefully they know what they're doing. If they don't, or if they make a huge mistake then they shouldn't be allowed the right to hold the position. I think it's certainly worth looking over the cases because it can never hurt to check on the other systems of governments. However, I don't think its necessary for Presidents to be handing out pardons left and right. If it's necessary to give out hundreds of pardons each year or couple of years, then maybe the President (and a committee) should be checking the judges who made the punishment decisions, not the criminals. Initially, that's where the problem is coming from and they are not going to be writing in biased letters begging the President to free them, like the criminals.

Most Important Helper

First of all, I think the most important helper to the president is going to differ from each term to the next, and from one president to another depending on who it is. For this specific election and time period, I think the Economic and Security advisers are going to be really helpful for President Elect Barack Obama. These were two of the most important parts of the election, and are very important in America right now because of the recent problems with the economy. This is going to be this first thing on Obamas mind, therefore he is going to be needing advise from them regularly. However, throughout his term in general I think Obama will be receiving the most advice from his main Staff (Vice president, Speaker of House, etc) They all have lots of experience in different aspects that he may not have, and he will hopefully take full advantage of that. I think he seems to work with these people frequently, and will look to them because they are so high up in the rankings of government.

ELECTION!!!

Well, I had a really great time staying up to watch the election. I just stayed on CNN.com all night and was refreshing the page every 30 seconds probably. It was really interesting to see the number of states that voted republican last year and switched to democrat as well as just which states voted what way. I am very happy Obama won! Despite the fact that he doesn't have as much experience as McCain has, neither of them has experience as President.. and that's the position they are taking on so it would be new to both of them. I think he is just as qualified to be President, as most of America seems to think as well. I do have concerns about the fact that the people who are upset about him winning are REALLY upset. I feel that his security as President should be upped a lot more than usual because he's going to be an extreme target. I personally talked to people who honestly think he is a Muslim and that if you're a Christian you should be sorry because a Muslim is taking over the country and blah blah blah. Honestly, how ridiculous can you be? He's not anywhere close to being a Muslim and I'm sure the people who are saying this don't even know what a Muslim is besides being a different religion that has a bad connotation among Americans. It's sad that people in our country are acting like this, and I really hope Obama lives up to what he has been saying he's going to do and really was the right choice. I know he is going to have to work harder than any President before to gain the approval of those who have fought against him, and at any little mess up he is going to be criticized greatly. I hope he works hard and is able to prove those who don't like him wrong.

GOOD LUCK PRESIDENT OBAMA!!! =)

Also, I just want to add that as much as I dislike McCain his speech after the election was amazing!! If he had spoken that well all along, I probably would have much more respect for him. The speech was excellent, the way he spoke and sounded like he genuinely meant it, and the way he pushed the crowd to move on really shows that he cared. It also really stood out to me that he said he was going to stand behind Obama and offer his help and support throughout his presidency.. and isn't what it's all about? I think by having Obama as President and McCain close by to help when he is needed, our government can be even stronger. Obviously they disagree on things and are going to continue to do so, but certain aspects that McCain knows more about and could advise Obama on would be helpful.

I am also excited that Warner and Wittman won! My father has worked with both of them and knows them, so I have been supporters of them for a while. Even though they are members of different parties, I think it's good to have a variety working for our state.
Overall, Election '08 was a success in my eyes.

Should voting age be lowered?

I do not think the voting age should be lowered. Voting is a privilege and it needs to be taken seriously. It's not something that can be taken lightly because it affects everyone and I think it needs to be done among adults. I know that I wasn't really interested in politics at age 16, and if I had been given the right to vote I probably would have not done so or done so uninformed. Both of those are really bad circumstances and now that I have learned more about politics at the age of 17, I can't wait until the next election so I will be able to vote. I think that by making teens wait until they are 18 makes it more exciting because they have a new right that they will want to use. Just like driving, there is a certain age when it becomes available for a reason, and I think voting is the same way. Students need to be at an age when they care about their future, and realize that they are the upcoming generation that everything going on is going to effect. By waiting to vote, they hopefully will have realized this and then use their privilege correctly.

Are tougher US Immigration laws hurting America?

1st time: No. I don't believe we should just not allow immigrants in, however I think their needs to be a limit on the number per year or so. This country can only sustain a certain amount of people and with the steady increase of American citizens alone, it's not going to be able to handle an absurd amount of immigrants too. They are important to our economy, but they can't be subjected to take it over either. People need to be able to appreciate America, and I think if you are not rightfully an American citizen, you should have to work to become one.
2nd: No. I don't think being popular should be a main concern of America. Sure, we should stay on decent to good terms with as many countries as we can, but being the most popular nation is less important than being a stable and influential country. We have become a world where going from country to country is a high risk situation, and we need to be aware of that. Therefore,although these tough immigrant laws have made Americans traveling situation more difficult, It's better to be safe than sorry.
3rd: No. I don't think the US is at risk of 'isolating itself as an economy' just because the laws are a little tougher. I think laws are going to have to be tougher in a lot of countries because more and more people seem to find the desire to go around them. The 'American Dream' and the opportunities should be more important to an immigrant wanting to come to America than the challenging laws. If the immigrant is willing to go through the process even if it takes effort, then in my eyes they are fit to come to this country, live on American land, and be allowed everything America has to offer. I think the process is what is going to weed out those who should be allowed in and those who shouldn't.

Palin Rally

Well, I guess the Palin Rally went as well as a McCain-Palin rally can go for an Obama supporter... It was hard to hear them say such radical crazy things (that he's a communist/socialist/terrorist and blah blah blah)about it when that's just not true. I understand people that don't support McCain say some bad stuff about him too, but come on people.. act like adults and stop making false accusations. To go along with that, I thought it was kind of childish how the boo'd him... Sure you can do that at a sporting event because it's all fun and games, but this is potentially the next president of our country. Is it necessary to boo him?? Anywayssss, like it has already been said, the weather was not enjoyable but I think it was a really good learning experience because I'd never been to a rally before. It made me wish I had been able to go to the Obama rally that much more. It also made me that much more excited for the election to be over, because this craziness has been going on long enough!! I thought there were a lot of clever signs, as well as some unneccesary ones.. like "boy scout for Palin" .. ok, and that matters because? Are we supposed to want to vote for her because a boy scout does?