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At the age of 17, I find myself amongst a demographic where enthusiasm for Biden appears to be waning. The disquiet is for several reasons: skepticism about his age, concerns regarding his perceived lack of progressivism, and a general unawareness of his White House achievements loom large. As we approach the critical juncture of the 2024 elections, with young voters poised to shape the political landscape, Democrats and those close to the president must reckon with this dilemma. Here’s why.

Gerrymandering is uniquely evil. Merriam-Webster defines gerrymandering as the practice of dividing or arranging a territorial unit into election districts in a way that gives one political party an unfair advantage in elections. Gerrymandering represents all that is wrong in the current political system, after all, I should know, I live in a gerrymandered district. Going to a state scale, I am from Southwest Missouri, residing in the Republic. Looking at the picture above, you’ll notice a hole within Greene County. This hole is the city of Springfield. Springfield and the rest of Southwest Missouri lie in the traditional “Bible Belt”, and maintain a dark red fixture, except for one spot. In that hole lies the blue city of Springfield. The city contains three college campuses, a community college, and a high population of poverty. Because of the high population of blue voters in the city of Springfield, a glaring hole remains in the State Senate’s 20th district map. So, with this personal example of living in gerrymandering, how do we move forward to end the practice?

The year was 1968. Democratic candidates, delegates, and voters gathered in Chicago for what would soon become the last Open Democratic Convention of the modern era. Voters during this convention were primarily concerned with the United States’ involvement in the Vietnam War and for equal rights of Black Americans, leading to riots which brought the National Guard to the Windy City to quell them. The convention was tense as incumbent President Lyndon B. Johnson decided not to run for a second term, pushing Vice President Hubert Humphrey to the top of the ballot. Although the convention did not lead to a successful Democratic victory for the presidency, it spotlighted the injustices in the Vietnam War and the differing perspectives on candidates.

Voting education in high schools is essential to young voters’ involvement in elections. However, there is some debate as to whether U.S. public schools are adequately preparing students to be involved in the electoral process. Schools play a central role in education and civic engagement, and as many have argued, should be doing more to promote such engagement.

It is becoming clearer and clearer that the Republican candidate for president in November will be Donald Trump, espeically after beating Nikki Haley in her home state of South Carolina.