Politically Inept? Drink and Do Some Research

By K

Like any good twenty-something, I’m on several random email lists, usually of the happy hour variety. When one of my favorite haunts in lower Manhattan emailed me about an open bar next Monday, I did a cartoon-style double-take.

Not because I’m that excited about an open bar, but because in the subject line, this one was exclusively for supporters of Barack Obama.

I opened said email instead of deleting immediately and read that the “suggested donation” was $25 per person, but more would be greatly appreciated, and that the proceeds would go directly to Obama’s campaign.

Maybe I should’ve been disgusted. Instead, I was intrigued. A politician’s supporters realize a great way to get the twenty-to-thirty demographic to donate… give them booze in exchange for the donation. Unlimited alcohol—and sushi!—for four hours, even.

Considering drinks are between $7 and $10 apiece in the city, and sushi will cost you at least $5 a roll-order… why, you’ve got dinner and a buzz in the name of being politically active.

Pretty reasonable tab for an evening out. Instead of emailing back to RSVP, I thought about the tactic that had been used to get my attention. Maybe I should get to know the character I’d be supporting before I hit the ATM. Clearly his people already knew how I operated.

For both the venue and the politician, this was a pretty genius business move. So impressive, in fact, that after getting this email, I went to Obama’s website and did a little reading. I watched his victory speech in South Carolina, and after taking in what he had to say, I decided to read up a bit on his competition.

I’m no political genius, but I cringe at the thought of being considered apathetic. I admit that I’m under-educated in the way of politics, but I’m not unwilling to learn. I think that’s a pretty common situation for people our age. With the character attacks and the race/gender/religion drama, it’s not all that shocking that people don’t care more about it.

Why research politicans when you regularly read PerezHilton? They’re not known for being LiLo‘s rehab buddies. Spare me the dirt; tell us what they want to do for the country.

From what little I’ve seen, as far as the media’s concerned, there’s practically no Republican participation in this election. That is, until someone has an opinion about Mitt Romney being a Morman. It’s more like a Democratic popularity contest: who should be first, a white woman or an African-American man? Do people really like Hillary, or do they just want to see Bill back in the White House since he was the economy’s lucky charm for so long?

Don’t get me wrong, I’m still very undecided. I just don’t know enough. What scares me is it that it didn’t hit home until politics decided to do a bar night.

If you want to do your own research, hit up cnn.com to find out a little more about who’s running. Then come back and let us know who you support and why!