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Sharing the angst of a tough decision: A scary campaign

BY SARA KAY | Sara Kay, 20, is a student at Hofstra University from Maryland.

November 2, 2008

I'm not a New York resident, so I don't have the luxury of being able to wait until Election Day to go to the polls. Instead, I'm pressured to fill out my absentee ballot early and make sure it's sent in on time so that my vote counts. After constant deliberation with myself, I don't even have the confidence to open the ballot, let alone vote.

Why can't I decide? Neither of these candidates has tickled my fancy, so to speak. Each campaign is focused on cat fighting with the other, rather how they are going to fix this country, and to be quite frank, that scares me. Two years from now, when I'm starting to pay off my college loans, looking for a job and a place to live, I want to know that this country will be stable enough so I can live the life I want. No matter how much I try to convince my pen to bubble in one candidate for my vote, I have to wonder if my decision only will help hinder that dream of stability.

This decision is the most difficult one I've yet to make, next to choosing a college. To be honest, the decisions are not all that different. I wanted a college I felt comfortable with, that I'd heard of, that made me feel secure. In the same respect, I want a president who will keep this country stable and secure.

Sometimes I feel that John McCain, even with the foul-ups he's made during his campaign, is more capable of filling those stable shoes than Barack Obama. I agree with a lot of Obama's viewpoints yet, when it comes down to it, I'm not sure he's been around long enough to convince me that he's ready.

The election's not just about issues. If I have a house, a car, and the stock market is still alive four years from now, I'll know the country made the right choice.