John McCain and the Republican Party have finally made it official.

This election is about change.

There wasn’t much noise made about it, rather than give Democrats any credit for their foresight Republicans chose to bash Obama, and by the end of their convention, they succeeded in stealing his slogan by convincing others it was there idea to begin with.

So here we stand once again, viciously divided two solitary months away from November 4th. But can we blame the Republican Party?

I mean after all, their method works. They’ve proven time and time again how vulnerable the American psyche is.

They’ve mastered the art of manipulation, subversive tactics, and separatist propaganda. Call it Rove tactics. Call it 21st Century fear mongering. Call it whatever you want.

The lesson is real. Republicans call short term memory a concept. Their slogan should be: “It’s easy to forgive and forget. JUST DO IT”

Now begins the speculation. Who makes the next move? Will the disenfranchised show up at the polls? Where is the next vital demographic hiding?

Simply put, we are in the basement.

I know I’m in the basement. After all I’m a “student”. So what’s that mean? For one thing, I don’t have a degree, I don’t have a salary, I don’t have health insurance, I don’t even have benefits, and I’m still in debt.

That’s me. That’s us. We’re in the basement.

So as Palin took to her perch next to John McCain at the Republic National Convention and on our television screens we asked ourselves “what’s new”.

And when we hear Barack Obama talk about “change we can believe in” we ask when these so-called changes we can actually begin.

For some students here, like Matt Driskell, the stakes are high.

Matt enlisted in the Navy in 2005, back when the War in Iraq was two years young.

I asked him why he supports Barack Obama, and he immediately references Obama’s pledge to “end the War in Iraq responsibly, and bring our troops home with honor.”

And then there are students like Kenny Hedrington.

He can remember signing up for selective service because he needed financial aid, presidential elections aren’t supposed to mean anything to him, but this one does.

Like me, he will be voting for the first time, and like most students here, he will be voting for Barack Obama.

There are others who are undecided, not about who to vote for, just about whether to vote. Eddie Martinez doesn’t think his vote matters.

He said with a little convincing that he would like to register. For some unknown reason he says he likes Obama more than he does McCain.

Chue Thao will turn 18 this month, and the last thing on his mind seems to be registering to vote.

He knows the economy is weak, and though admits he feels uninformed about the election, he says he prefers Obama, “I think he looks different.”

There are some of us here in America who feels that the privilege of being a citizen applies only to “qualified Americans”.

The truth is no matter where you came from, or who you’re with, if you are here with certainty; you have the rights of an American.

So if you’ve heard of the first amendment, or better yet the American dream, then make it clear that you’re here. Who knows, maybe this time come November, we migt just crawl out of the basement and finnall make have our voices heard for the first time.