I am only 13

Dear George:

Although I am only thirteen I have followed this election very carefully. I would greatly appreciate it if you read this letter and realized the changes that you need to make.

On the issue of abortions, I think it would be a really bad idea for you to take away this right that women have worked so hard to gain. As a female, if I were ever raped and became pregnant than I would think carefully about what my course of action would be. Even if this never happened to me, I would still like it to be a right for all American women. While I do not support abortions for selecting the gender of your child (this is just plain cruel) I do however support Bill Clinton’s view that abortions should be "safe, legal, and rare." Please do NOT overturn Roe vs. Wade. In this case, your religious beliefs are influencing your political beliefs. The same applies to gay marriage. If you do indeed enact the constitutional ban on gay marriage, than you are denying a citizen of the United States of America their rights. By doing this you are violating both the first and fourteenth amendments.

At the present, no matter your sexual orientation it is very difficult to get a job, much less a high paying one. With your current policy the oil companies will enjoy big tax brakes for shipping the American people’s jobs overseas while many an average American is out of work. Your economic policy could also be tied into your environmental policy, which at present is almost nonexistent. You could create jobs that manufacture products that help keep the environment clean.

As to Iraq, I am not a military strategist but I do know enough to know what you and I don’t know. If you oppose abortion because it is taking a human life, than wouldn’t you also oppose war? I would appreciate it if you thought about that for a while and got back to me. I’m not sure why you don’t understand that the Iraqis don’t want us in their country killing innocent civilians.

I am a student in the New Haven public school system and every day I have more and more proof that your policies are leaving more and more children behind. The tests you require are preventing you from teaching. Since my mother is a teacher in a failing school, every day I hear about how she has not been able to teach because of off year CMT testing. I have taken the actual test three times as well as many practices and they are often riddled with errors. My mother stays long after the school day is over getting the records straight and trying to deal with disrespect from the people who caused the problems in the first place. You do have a few good ideas but you have decided to fund the distraction war over the future of America.

One last thing, please lower the voting age. It is probably not going to help you or your party politically, but if you want to be a “uniter and not a divider” than that is one small step you could take. The fact that people can drive before they can vote is absolutely absurd. If at the very least, please lower it to seventeen. I'd like the chance to vote in the next election. At some point I would like to run for public office, maybe even the presidency, and if I do, I will work very hard to undo some of the problems that you have created and try to bring about a change.

If you believe this letter is poorly written than it is your own fault for not providing sufficient education for Americas children and its future.

Sincerely,

Laura
Age 13
New Haven, Connecticut