The 2008 election is underway and the media is already buzzing with stories about candidates from both parties. There has been a great deal of talk about the horse race between the candidates and who is leading in the latest polls. While much space in the newspapers each day is devoted to 2008, almost none of that attention has been focused on how the issues of today will impact our generation’s future.

Looking at our future from the vantage point of today, I wonder if our nation’s economy will be strong enough to make the thousands of dollars we have paid for our education worth it with great jobs. When we graduate, will we be able to find affordable housing in an acceptable place where we want to live and work in?

I wonder if we will all have quality and affordable health care or will we be left with no health care because we cannot afford it. Will we be able to find a way to end the conflict in Iraq that leaves us with some standing power in the world? I wonder if our political and policy leaders will find a way to pay for our parents’ retirement without waiting too long and leaving us as a generation saddled with debt.

All too often policy-makers look at the solutions through the prism of what is most politically expedient today and will bring them the most votes next November. Because our generation does not come out to vote in large numbers, our most important concerns are often forgotten in exchange for votes of older Americans who vote consistently. Policy prescriptions are formulated to pander to their interests, instead of our generation and our nation’s long-term interests. As long as we choose not to make our voice heard in elections, our interests will be forgotten.

Our nation is now at a pivotal point. The decisions made today on the many issues we face will have a great impact on our future. This is our moment to choose the direction of these policies for ourselves and our future, instead of being left with deeper problems later on.

As a generation, we must all register to vote and we must all go to the polls in 2008. If we mobilize together, our voices will not be ignored.

– Joshua Robin is a middler political science major and president of the Northeastern University College Democrats.