4A the university daily kansan opinion friday, march 12, 2004 EDITORIAL BOARD Democrats: Go vote Saturday; delegates up for grabs Democrats in Kansas will get an opportunity to affirm the nomination of Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass) or choose to give Kansas' delegates to someone else for the nomination to face President George W. Bush in November. OUR VIEW Kansas' delegates will help guide the party's direction. Go vote. Kansas' caucuses may not matter this year. Kerry's nomination looks likely. Even so, it is important to go out to the individual caucus sites and show support for a preferred candidate. Other candidates who are still in the race for the nomination are Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) and Rev. Al Sharpton. Gov. Howard Dean (D-Vt.) and Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.) have both suspended their campaigns but have both left themselves in the race for delegates. So far Kerry has the lead in delegates with 2,043 total delegates. Edwards is in second with 539. They are followed by Dean with 170, Retired Gen. Wesley Clark with 57, Sharpton with 27 and Kucinich with 23. Zach Newton for The University Daily Kansan A total of 2,162 delegates are needed to win the nomination. Kansas has a total of 41 delegates — eight will choose their own candidate, while 33 will vote by the discretion of the caucuses. Turnout is expected to be low for the caucuses and that is why it is so important to get out and vote for a candidate. not change the outcome of who will get the nomination, but the delegates might change the party's platform. The votes from the Kansas caucus will The reason why people should get out to vote is because this is the first time in the last two presidential elections that Kansas voters have had a chance to participate in the primary system. Saturday, Kansas voters should show that they don't want to be disenfranchised anymore. The amount of delegates may be a drop in the bucket, but these delegates are our delegates. The residents of the state, not the party heads, should decide where those delegates go. Saturday is an opportunity for the residents of the state of Kansas to say who they want to face Bush in November. Take advantage of it. If voter turnout is as low as expected, who knows when Kansas will have another primary or caucus again. PERSPECTIVE Election creep: Politicians prepare prematurely COMMENTARY As college students, we've been waiting 18 years or more to vote. Now that we have two presidential candidates to choose from, it seems like it will be about another 18 years before the election. Every year presidential elections get longer. In fact, the republicans plan to nominate their 2008 candidate in October. Likely 2012 Democratic nominee, U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D- N.Y.), is running advertisements saying she is sure whover will be elected in 2008 will do a terrible job and it will be time for a change. "Hillary in 2012: Because the world is bound to be messed up by then." Brandon Gay opinion@kansan.com OK, so it's not that bad yet. But, even if we don't yet have simultaneous presidential elections going on, the race we do have is down to two candidates and the conventions aren't for another six months. There is barely enough action to keep the attention of the average presidential candidate, let alone the average voter. That does not mean the next six months won't be full of must-see entertainment. There will be important policy debates, candidates will travel the country and political analysts will tell us who is likely to win. So, as you can see, we as Americans have one thing to do: laugh. Just to keep you interested for the next six months, here are some things to watch for (and laugh at) during the campaign: First, expect some negative campaigning. Negative campaigning can be entertaining, but first you have to recognize it. Typical negative advertisements might point out that one candidate is weak on defense or that another is a blood-sucking neo-Nazi who favors banning textbooks in schools, doesn't use his turn signal and voted for the prescription drug bill. Sometimes negative advertisements subtly point out a candidate's poor personality traits, such as the fact that U.S. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) is such a boring stiff it's likely he actually died in the late 1990s. After you see the initial negative advertisement, wait a few weeks for a response from the other side. In this case, Kerry might come back with an advertisement which points out that "some of our best presidents, such as George Washington and Teddy Roosevelt, are dead." Next, expect something wacky from everyone's favorite non-contending contender, Dennis Kucinich. He's still in the race and, by my calculations, there is one government program he has not yet proposed: Universal, single-payer, not-for-profit dental care for citizens, dogs, cats and domesticated rabbits. There will also be a debate about debate formats. Kerry will likely want to have a five-hour policy debate every day until the election. Expect President Bush to call for something more along the lines of one debate, televised live at 3 a.m., featuring questions from the cast of Sesame Street. If all this still fails to hold your interest, just think back to the entertaining moments of the primaries, such as when former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean had an aneurism on national television. "We're going to go to the hospital! And to the emergency room! And to the operating room and to intensive care! And then we're going to go to heaven and take back religion for the democrats! Yeaargh!" And remember, it's not yet too late to plan your own 2020 bid for the presidency. However, the candidates are already booking tickets to Iowa, so you better hurry. Gay is a Norton senior in journalism and political science. MUSIC OF MY MIND 'In America,' know your importance "The most important time in history is, NOW, the present/So count your blessings, 'cause time can't define the essence..."—Talib Kweli of Black Star, "K.O.S. (Determination)"from the 1998 album, Mos Def and Talib Kweli are Black Star In America you can say whatever you want to say as long as it does not challenge the status quo or inspire people to think. COMMENTARY In America, being inclusive means that we can all pose for the picture on the brochure, as long as no one in the photograph demands rights, equal protection or appropriate representation. Recently, though, I've begun to understand why. Cornelius Minor opinion@kansan.com In America, we can be proud of the "highlight film" version of our shared history — women can work, blacks can vote, Cablanasians can play golf. To desire to work through and reconcile those darker moments — the Red Summer of 1919, the interment of Japanese during WWII, the Zoot Riots of 1943 and countless others — is to be to be branded as belligerently unaccommodating. Where I begin to have trouble, though, is when I think about the things that exist outside of my personal dreams of happiness. What about other people's desires In America, individuals are near sick of being made to feel guilty over yesterday's troubles. Ultimately, I suspect that sometimes, in America, folks just want to live — to watch TV, to listen to music, to chill. I know that at times, I certainly do. In America, folks are tired of talking about, worrying over or living through those problems that lie outside of our immediate sphere. After all, we've got jobs to do, homework to finish and people to see. I am reminded of the 3,454 American people who died of malnutrition in 2001. In that same year, 2,978 people in the U.S. were killed in terrorist attacks, and we threw ourselves into an expensive war to avenge them. Where is our war on poverty or on hunger? Were those lives not worth just as much? No matter what we do, it is imperative that we realize that in America, our destinies are all tied, and I'm not talking about it in some abstract sense. Our connections are very concrete. 13 percent of the federal income taxes that we pay go to "general government." A substantial portion of that money is set aside to keep people in jails today, because 15 years ago, my parents and their peers failed to to live and to be happy? If I don't fight for, or at least worry about others when their rights or dreams are limited, who will stand for me when somebody attempts to limit mine? As I've gotten older, I've grown frustrated because I've realized that thinking or writing about a problem does little to alleviate it. I know what compassion looks like when I think or when I write, but what does it look like when I act? see the value in educating them. That does not mean that my parents are bad people, it just means that I have to undertake the challenge of being better than them. That is progress. In America, times are too urgent to argue about who is right and who is left, who is blame and who is innocent, or who is patriotic and who is not. The more appropriate question: Who is going to do the work? Who will stand when others sit? Who will lead? Who will understand? Who will challenge? Who will love? Those people are the important people to us now — not the critics, the scholars, the politicians, or the pollsters, but those people who dare to think outside of their own experiences and those who are brave enough to ask questions. Fortunately for us, in America, the most important person stares at you each morning in the mirror when you brush your teeth. I can't wait to see what you'll do. Minor is an Atlanta graduate student in American studies. He is also co-host of KJHK Voice Activated, Thursday at 7 p.m. Free for All callers have 20 seconds to speak about any topic they wish. Kansas editors reserve the right to omit comments. Slanderous and obscene statements will not be printed. Phone numbers of all incoming calls are recorded. For more comments, go to www.kansan.com isn't it sad that there are over 13,000 girls at KU and not one is interested in me? Free Cornelius. Let my boy go. Free for All Call 864-0500 Does KU offer a major in child bearing? KANSAN 图 Michelle Rombeck editor 864-4854 or mburhenn@kansan.com Andrew Vaupel managing editor 864-4854 or vaupel@kansan.com Meghan Brune and Johanna M. Maska opinion editors 864-4924 or opinion@kansan.com Danielle Bose business manager 864-4358 or addrector@kansan.com Stephanie Graham retail sales manager 864-4388 or adsales@kansan.com Malcolm Gibson general manager and news adviser 864-7697 or mgibson@kansan.com Matt Fisher sales and : marketing adviser 864-7986 or mfisher@kanan.com Editorial Board Members Kendall Dlyn Lynze Ford Laura Francoviglia Anna Gregory Amy Hammontree Kally Hollowell Teresa Lo Mindy Oakborne Greg Holmquist Ryan Scarrow Elizabeth Willy Sara Behunek Kevin Fletcher Brandon Gay Zack Hememway Alex Hoffman Kevin Kampwitt Amy Kelly Cameron Koelling Courtne/ Kuhhen Brandi Mathiesen Travis Metcalf Mike Norris Jonathan Reeder Erin Riffle Alex Smith Karl Zimmerman