Rachel Stone Co-Features Editor “Do you remember November 4^th, 2008?” A question our children and grandchildren will ask us time and again, and we will rest our now wrinkly chins upon our palms and recall that day. Election Day; the day thousands upon thousands packed into Grant Park like sardines and craned their necks to see the future unfolding in the cold autumn air, the day our country banded together to elect the first African-American man president. Now he and the rest of the Democratic Party have fallen in favor considerably, in the wake of seemingly endless wars and economic crises. According to the Rasmussen Reports, Obama’s approval rating has fallen to 27% of the nations voters, leaving the rest of the general public upset with his actions. This discrepancy is arguably what put many republicans into office this midterm election. Simply put, the nation is discouraged with Obama and the rest of the Democratic Party for not fixing the mess that he was left to clean up. Sophomore Michael Begel agrees with this, and went on to say how “Obama has been a disappointment so far.” His beliefs mirror those of the general Republican public when he stated how “during the campaign, he made too many unrealistic promises, and didn’t spend enough time in the senate to understand how much time it takes to get just one bill passed.” Along that same argument, it is also unrealistic to expect a complete end to the recession in just a few years of presidency. Freshman Grace Ebach defended Obama, and argued that “he is fixing a country in a serious crisis…it takes time, and he is dealing with the pressure well.” However, America voted both then and now, and we are left with our decisions for another two years. According to fellow 10^th grader Matt Brown, all that we know of our current state senator Mark Kirk is based on the endorsement websites, commercials and campaign smears. I can’t blame him; every time I think of Kirk, my mind returns to the infamous “Who is this guy? “ commercial. He went on to mention that “based upon Kirk’s website, [he was] pleased with the results,” and that he “has good hair.” Kirk’s beliefs themselves are quite controversial; intelligent and noble to some, and blatantly idiotic to others. Mr. Begel believes that “Kirk will be good in the senate…though he is a republican, he is more moderate [in issues] like his beliefs in helping to save the environment” (he voted ‘yes’ to the bill to enforce limits on CO2 global warming pollution). Kirk additionally voted ‘no’ to the ban on Constitutionally defining marriage as between a man and a woman, and supported woman’s right to chose, giving him the support of much of the democratic population. However, many of the republicans in office do not support such laws. For our generation, what the government votes on has considerable impact. After all, we will be the ones in the next decade or two (or three) to get married, start families, and start becoming the leaders of our country. In the end, these midterm elections are great indicators of the American public. According to Michael Begel, “these elections show that Americans do want a change, and that they are tired of what they currently have. They want new leaders who will help us get out of our recession and get Americans back to work.” It seems that on November 4^th 2008, we had no idea what was ahead of us.]]>