Issue date: 2/18/08 Section: Editorial/Opinion

For the majority of you, this will be the first time you are able to cast a vote in a presidential election, and you couldn't have come of age at a more important time.

We now face a moment in our nation's history unlike any other. The war in Iraq has severely tarnished our image abroad while claiming thousands of precious lives and wasting hundreds of billions of our tax dollars. Our economy is in shambles, and the gap between the rich and poor continues to grow. Global warming progresses while our government stands idly by in denial.

Sen. Barack Obama has the experience to address these important issues, but experience alone will not be enough. He has the specific plans needed to tackle these issues on day one, but plans alone will not be enough. Obama is the only candidate who can bring about the important change this country needs because he is the only candidate with the ability to unite the country.

Time and time again, Obama has proven a unique ability to bring together people of widely differing opinions in order to find common ground and make progress on the most contentious of issues.

Obama is deservingly harsh on the failures of the current administration, but he is using his amazing rhetorical abilities to unite the country. He is the only candidate in the field who has demonstrated the ability to unite people across the political divide around a common cause.

Additionally, Obama fully understands that to fix problems like health care, social security and the war in Iraq, we must first fix Washington. Obama has the skills and experience necessary to fundamentally change the status quo in Washington, D.C.

We don't all agree on every issue, but with Obama, politics need not be divisive. To him, politics is not about fighting or playing power-politics, and it's not about grandstanding and scoring political points. Obama is focused most on discovering where people can come together and pursuing those commonalities in order to solve important problems.

Sen. Clinton is an extremely intelligent, competent candidate. Unfortunately, we have a good idea what a Clinton presidency would look like because we've seen eight years of it. The restoration of the Clintons to the White House would result in a return to the divisive political warfare we saw under Bill Clinton. While I do not think the Clintons were to blame - there is a lot of truth to the idea of a "vast right-wing conspiracy" which Hillary so often speaks of - this form of politics exists and cannot be ignored.

One thing we know for certain, however, is in a political environment like that, very little gets done. Our country has far too many important problems that need solving - we can't afford to settle for eight more years of scandal and controversy.

Sen. Obama is also the best chance we have for a Democratic victory in November. Every single recent poll has shown Obama faring better than Clinton in a matchup against Republican presidential leader Sen. John McCain - and for no small reason. Sen. Obama's inspiring message of hope, unity and change has been attracting significant numbers of independent voters, along with a fraction of disenchanted Republicans, and is persuading young people to turn out in record numbers (more than double the turnout of 2004 in many contests). In Iowa, like in many states so far, our age group chose Obama by nearly six to one over every other candidate.

Newsweek recently described Obama as "fresh, inspiring and embodies what most elections are about: the future … the only one with a decent chance for a landslide."

One thing we must never forget, however: Obama's campaign is truly a movement of ordinary people, like you and me, who have been inspired enough to decide that this time around, things are important enough that we need to stand up and be counted. Students are the ones who will decide this election.

Our time for change is now.

Barnekow is a senior political science major and guest columnist for The Spectator.

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