President Bush, speaking in his weekly radio address on Sunday in the wake of disastrous floods in the Midwest over the last three weeks, requested that Congress pass an emergency spending bill that would provide ample funds for photo opportunities in Iowa as well as potential other natural disasters that strike this summer.

“The good people of the Midwest have been devastated these past few weeks, with whole towns and farm communities destroyed,” Bush said. “Billions of dollars worth of damage has taken place, and they need to have the peace of mind that comes with thinking their President actually gives a damn. This money will provide them that, as well as fund other photo sessions in devastated areas still to be determined. It’s the least I can, and will, do.”

As heavy rains caused rushing rivers to crash down on the region, 24 levees, long considered to be in disrepair, ruptured, flooding small towns and valuable farm land. Factories, town squares and homes were destroyed, and experts say that as much as five million acres of valuable corn and soybeans cropland was destroyed. For the 40,000 people who were displaced from their homes, in addition to the tens of thousands more who saw their livelihoods disrupted or even washed away, Bush said he believed the best cure was “a brief stop-by, a stirring little speech and some photos of me huggin’ sad ladies on the cover of USA Today.”

Noting the juxtaposition between what many felt were his finest and his lowest hours in office, Bush insisted that this was the right course of action.

“Look what we were able to do with that rubble pile on September the 11th,” he said. “For so many, me grabbing that megaphone, swearing revenge, putting my arm around that old guy, it made them think, for at least a little while, that things would really be okay, that we’d get the guy responsible. Then with that hurricane or whatever a few years back, we were late on getting on the scene with that speech and the photos, and we still haven’t stopped hearing about it.”

The President defended preemptively in his address against those who might say his funding request was too pricey, noting the expenses that went along with both travel and a professional-level photo shoot were no small sum of money.

“There’s just so much involved, so much that goes into a staged photo-op like this,” Bush said. “First, they’ve got to drain the local airport and town square enough for me to even step down there. That’s a lot of cleanup, I hear. Then you’ve got to worry about things like lighting, and sometimes that requires rearranging buildings and temporary trailers so that the sun hits me just right. I like a soft lighting, gives me a bit of an angelic feel, and that’s tough to maintain when you’ve got 100 different photographers snapping at me.

“These things cost money, you know,” he continued, “especially if you want to do them real last minute, as so many of these events have to be, unfortunately. We’re working on that, too.”

Some of the funds would be allocated to a photo session next week in California, once firefighters were done putting out the hundreds of forest fires that have broken out across the state. The rest would be put aside, ready to dispense for headline grabbing photos as natural disaster season rolled through the summer.

“We’ll probably have a bunch more fires, and definitely a bunch of tornadoes in the Midwest,” Bush noted. “And with hurricane season coming up, it’s supposed to be a doozy this year, so we need to be prepared this time to be anywhere on the eastern seaboard, especially Florida. Luckily I have some friends down there, so that can keep costs down, but still, if I’ve learned one thing over the past seven years, you’ve gotta be prepared.”

Read more at ReallySeriousNews.com

Respectively, I lost my virginity in a backyard, learning how to fold my body so it would fit through my bedroom window.

Of course I knew that it was an election year, that it was the new millenium. I also knew that my computer did not crash after Y2K and that the boys you sleep with in backyards would not always call you the next day. My father was for George W. Bush and my mother was not. My father said things about property taxes as his reasoning, later on he would say he considered himself a conservative. I got the boy who slept with me to become my boyfriend, and because of this, I thought I could do anything. I had some feeling that I wanted to change the world, but I also had the feeling that I would be sixteen forever, that not man or law could stop me.

My boyfriend’s mother, like my own, was a supporter of Al Gore. These were the years of mothers, we all adored our mothers and feared our fathers. My boyfriend’s grandmother hung a picture of George Bush and his wife Barbara on the kitchen fridge. She took me aside pulling my arm, and told me the greatness of that man’s qualities, and how they all would have rubbed off on his son. I remembered George Bush being president vaguely, I had a memory of watching Barbra Bush reading children’s novels to a kindergarten class, and because I was also in kindergarten, I ended up liking her very much. I did not understand that anything had real consequences, all of my feelings were about the next ten minutes, the next ten hours. I had no concept of the next two years - let alone four, or eight.

The day to vote came and suddenly the spotlight was on Florida. Everyone was upset for one reason or another, and everyone was paying attention. I was paying attention, but I also was thinking of getting my drivers license in a month and a half; about the girl my boyfriend sat next to in Algebra. When the results came in I was at a birthday dinner with my boyfriends family, a bunch of us left the table at The Macaroni Grill to stand next to a wide screen television. My boyfriend’s mother was near tears and a woman next to her said “He is just one man. How bad could it be?” And I had no idea, really about anything, I had no idea what any of this would mean.

And after that night, things changed. I started listening. I felt scared after September 11th, I wanted to donate blood like everyone else, but I was not eighteen yet. New York seemed far away, this place that only existed in books and on television, a place where I could never live. I felt sick and sad, like everyone else. I don’t know if I opposed the war because of something someone told me, or because of books that I had read, but I knew that I was against it. On March 20th of 2003, I watched the war begin on the television screen. All I remember is a black screen with green lights going off in the corners. I guess they were bombs, I guess I was watching CNN in my childhood bedroom. IMing friends online, I typed “is this really happening?”

In 2003, I left Florida. I blamed Florida for so much, I really blamed Florida for my whole life. Many of us did. I spent my freshman year at Kent State University, learning how to get drunk and cry in front of the May 4th Memorial. Instead of attending classes, I read in bed. I believed I was in a place that was polarized in 1970, that I cold still do whatever I wanted. When I was sent back to Florida in 2004, I campaigned hard. I heard so many people say “Anyone but Bush” and about how we had to pick the lesser of two evils, but I did not want to think like that. I just wanted something - anything really - to be different. And when my friends would tell me that they were going to vote for Bush, I would become irate, flinging my arms in the air in angst. “This is the first election that we can vote in!” I would yell, “What the hell is wrong with you?” I’d pick fights with any of them, no matter how long I knew them, or if they were making excuses about voting like their parents vote. When George Bush was re-elected, I was working in the Clearwater Public Library, I could see the ocean through the large glass windows. I fell to the ground, and in my most dramatic fashion, I wept. I cried on the floor next to stacks of books in a back room. The books were all damaged, they were going to be thrown out. They couldn’t even be donated, the library had no use for them. At the time, neither did I.

And I became defeated. My mother drank wine at night - my mother drank red wine every night. I could not blame Florida. I could not even really blame my peers. Instead, I blamed myself. I started connecting point A to point B and back again. I tried to make straight lines. I tried to limit how often I watched the news, I wanted a break. There I was 19, and ready to give up. Hurricane Katrina had happened, Bush had been elected, and then came the waves. I did not know if I should calmly wait for some apocalypse. I knew I had the right to vote, I had my drivers license, I had my theories about the government. I started planning for some life where I could make a difference, where I could help to change the world. I could not lose my virginity in a backyard again, nor could I recount any votes in Florida. I had no time machines, and I had nearly no answers. I hadn’t scribbled an anarchy sign in quite sometime and I stopped talking shit the way I used to. And then it was just like it kind of hit me one day, that things did not always have to be like this, that things did have consequences - that I could not only recognize them, but determine them also.

Daniela Scrima is a senior at NYU. She currently lives in Brooklyn. Read more of her writing on her personal blog, “Oh-Snap!”

In the meantime, back to the State of the Union… Earlier this evening I wandered through Manhattan’s Union Square, sitting in on a free speech rally. There was little focus to the rally, as the entire purpose was to voice out about governmental and societal affairs. The man with the microphone was shirtless, practically naked, and raving passionately about WTO injustices. As I stood watching the spectacle, a passerby mentioned, “God Bless the Freaks.” As if on cue, her friend replied with an “Amen.” It was as if we were attending the First Church of American Freakdom, as the man continued to rant about apathy and lack of engagement.

But I was struck by the audience’s lack of response.

From what I could tell, he was right. No one else had the conviction to stand up and make their voice heard. If a person daring to tear off his shirt on a hot summer night in a very public Manhattan park has the gumption to condemn us of negligence, more power to him. It made me wonder who exactly is the voice of our generation. Where is the leadership from other twenty-somethings? Or, is everyone too busy worrying about job security or the latest Amy Winehouse drug-binge story to grace the entertainment glossies? Where is the leadership for our generation in media, literature, art, music, politics, science? I highly doubt college students lack conviction, a generalization of which many have pointed fingers. Yet, where is the iconoclastic voice we so desperately need to give our generation then substance for prolonged sustainability. When I reflect about this, people like the shirtless man raving in Union Square on a Sunday night are why I love the city and - more importantly - why I love this country.

It takes a bold type of individualism to truly inspire and reassess a generation’s position. Speaking out, lending a voice, and standing for something brazenly embodies the rugged framework of the American Dream than any Ford truck or real-estate fantasy.

There is bravery in voice.

God Bless the Freaks.

I’d like to apologize.

I haven’t been around these parts of the Internets for quite some time.

I have, however, in order of importance:

Paid an excessive amount of attention to the NBA Finals. (Giving myself an enormous amount of heartbreak and grief due to my unfaltering allegiance to the currently faltering San Antonio Spurs. I even bought these shoes.)

Over-zealously gone after a tall, blond, freshman who was destined to leave my life and was just never programmed to appreciate a sensitive artist like myself. C’est la vie.

Graduated from clown college the University of Texas at Austin with a bachelor’s degree in Journalism and a concentration on History and English. Which means I get to capitalize things like Journalism, History and English.

Well, I kind-of-graduated. Pretended–like a balloon sword.

I faked it like Samantha or Matthew Broderick’s wife’s character on that kind-of-funny HBO show that really should not have been produced into or even optioned toward feature film status. Spilled milk, I guess.

I walked across the stage wearing the requisite regalia including my one-size-messes-up-anyone’s-hair cap and an out-sized gown borrowed from a friend’s boyfriend that somehow didn’t swallow me up like Nautica Thorn’s vajayjay would do to…well…anything. (Trust me, I’ve seen video.) I even looked good in pictures. Lots and lots of pictures. Ahem.

But, let’s call it trick photography.

Because, as of now, I am not officially graduated. Yeah, everybody got handed a fake diploma with a year’s membership to the Jelly of the Month Club.

But, I’m actually signed up for two ancillary (re: unnecessary) classes this summer that I’ve opted to put myself through. Oh, I don’t need them. They’re both completely irrelevant to my degree (Music for Television and Film) or the world at large (Marketing), of course. There won’t be much of an impact on my GPA no matter what happens. I’ve more than surpassed the total number of hours to graduate. I can’t even pin down a minor due to hare-brained decision making in the College of Communication.

So, what gives?

Why in the world have I decided to subject myself to six more (not so) rigorous hours of needless education? (Hint: It’s not pure intellectual curiosity.)

Try a broken education system from top to bottom.

The same education system that produces a country wherein about 54 million Americans believe that the sun revolves around the Earth is the same one that doesn’t take seriously the need for public-financed, or even government-sponsored higher education.

Hell, they had to pull teeth for years and years to even get the Webb-Hagel GI Bill for our oh-so-vaunted veterans. And for that Congress deserves a genuine and hearty round of applause.

But it also ought to be understood as the sobering news that it truly is.

If it’s taken this long for an as of yet uncertain piece of legislation (facing presidential veto) that finally makes heroes instead of props of our military servicemen and servicewomen then substantial help on higher education costs for the rest of us are truly a dream.

The truth is I am taking these extra classes for two purely economic reasons:

1. To keep predatory lenders off my back for a few extra months by staying in school and forestalling payments on my student loans.
2. To reap the benefits of one last dose of (limited and piddling) federal financial aid so that I can afford rent, utilities and food for the next few months.

It’s a sad state of affairs and I’ve been forced to kind of game the system, in a sense. But when it’s broken, you do what you can to make it work for you. A dollar. Out of fifteen cents.

And I certainly don’t apologize for that.

Colin Kalmbacher is a twenty-something white male, born and bred in Fort Worth, Texas — though he currently resides in Austin. Not one much for consistency, he enjoys politics, love and misanthropy when not singing or baking vegan cookies. He’s also a huge fan of Talladega Nights.

Kindest Regards,

Brandon W.

Her success as an internet star is staggering. Over 50 million of have viewed the video on Youtube. All that attention has thrust Amber Lee Ettinger into the national spotlight. Here at The College Voter, we interviewed Ms. Ettinger via an e-mail questionnaire right after the Pennsylvania primary to get a little more insight about her post-campaign plans, her continued support for Senator Obama, and other fascinating tidbits.

First, could you tell us a little bit about “Obama Girl” before you became known as…well….er…. “Obama Girl”?

Well my name is Amber Lee Ettinger and I was modeling and acting in New York for 5 years before this “Obama Girl” project came my way.

What were some of your initial intentions for creating the videos?

I think we all thought it was a funny idea, and wanted to create a YouTube video people would want to share with their friends.

How do you feel about the various controversies Senator Obama’s campaign has had to confront? i.e. the Jeremiah Wright Saga, the “elitist” comments about rural Pennsylvania.

Being a presidential candidate clearly subjects you to a lot of scrutiny. Every relationship they have, word they speak, and action they do is being looked at by a team of people for any potential controversy. All in all — I think like most people I believe the “controversies” get more coverage than the issues people care most about.

What issue (i.e. the Iraq War, the economy, etc) do you feel will be the most decisive in the general election?

From the people I talk to – the economy.

Has Senator Obama contacted you himself?

No! It’d be fun, but I’m not waiting by the phone.

Any word on what Michelle Obama thinks of the “I Got A Crush On Obama Video”?

Well when she was first asked about it she said “if someone has a crush on Obama, more power to them.” So I’ll take that as – she gets it’s a joke.

Are you planning on attending the Democratic National Convention?

Hope so!

Besides your career as a model, do you have any plans for after the election?

I definitely have some exciting projects in the works. Some will be out before the election…so keep an eye out and stay tuned for updates at www.amberleeonline.com

If a hypothetical-President Obama offered you a position as Press Secretary, would you take it?

I’m going to go ahead and say that’s a long shot! But sure if he had confidence in me, I’d figure it out.

Do you feel as if you’ve been a major factor in bringing widespread attention and momentum to the Obama campaign?

Tough to say. Attention…probably. Momentum…I think he’s done that on his own and by motivating the people people who support him.

Do you have a favorite political pundit?

Oh, I’d say Rachel Sklar over at the Huffington Post is a favorite. But it’s crazy how much I watch cable news now.

Your popularity and notoriety is quite an accomplishment. Do you feel the Internet and You Tube is now the most successful way to achieve celebrity status?

Well I don’t know about the most successful, but it feels like the quickest. We put out our video, and two days later over 1 million people had seen it and I’m getting hundreds of emails about it.

Last questions. Is politics sexy?

Of course!

Want More? E! recently named Amber as “Obama Girl” as the hottest women on the web. Check it out:

Charlene Cheng is a Left Coast correspondent for The College Voter and writes about buzz and stardust from Los Angeles.

In case you had been wondering about what kind of girl Jenna Jameson is, she has officially confirmed that she is, in fact, a “political girl”. We personally had our own suspicions, but weren’t quite cognizant enough to figure it out, despite the obviously politically-driven poster for her new movie and future cinematic classic, “Zombie Strippers”:

In her recent appearance on “The View”, Ms. Jameson said:

There’s a lot of political undertones against the Bush administration. And that’s part of the reason why I did the movie. I kind of fancy myself a political girl.

Thank you. Without that we would have just thought it was another flick about undead corpses that liked to take their clothing off, and that you did the movie because…well, because you like to take your clothes off.

Image via MovieWeb.
Check out Jenna’s interview at redlasso.

Charlene Cheng is no longer a college student, but has somehow managed
to retain the slovenly and snarky qualities of one. When not spending
her time voting, campaigning for the Stewart/Colbert ticket, or
reading internet blogs that have nothing to do with her, Charlene is
devoting time to stalking both politicians and celebrities equally.

“There is a lot of literature in political science to show that people with higher levels of education tend to participate in politics more,” he said. “So what we are seeing is just that applied to younger voters. The campaigns try to reach out, but it just seems that people with higher educations feel much more efficacious about the process.”

See folks, education really is important after all, or else you say stupid things to major national media like this:

“I just think the political game is not really something I want to get into”

Thanks, 21 year-old Jennifer Herdman, for making our generation look like freakin’ apathetic fools. Grow up. She wants to start her own business and we say “Good luck.” Remember all those economic policies and taxes will eventually trickled down to you…. then you’ll wish you would have voted.

To Ms. Herdman:

“Anybody who thinks that ‘it doesn’t matter who’s President’ has never been Drafted and sent off to fight and die in a vicious, stupid War on the other side of the World — or been beaten and gassed by Police for trespassing on public property — or been hounded by the IRS for purely political reasons — or locked up in the Cook County Jail with a broken nose and no phone access and twelve perverts wanting to stomp your ass in the shower. That is when it matters who is President or Governor or Police Chief. That is when you will wish you had voted.” - Hunter S. Thompson

Touche.

Kymberly Bays is a correspondent and contributer for The College Voter from Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She checks in with a brief report on the current voting situation in Philadelphia.

Philadelphia is abuzz with voting today. The sun is shining so there’s one less excuse to not vote today. Obama supporters are all over Temple’s campus, double and triple-checking students for that trusty, “I Voted” sticker. Buses are taking students to their respective voting locations. One student reported being the 12th voter at their location, while another was 126th… An all round beautiful day for civic action.

Kymberly Bays is a native of San Diego, California. No, that is not near Laguna Beach. Crazy enough to trade from Southern California weather for freezing Philadelphia, she has a broad range of interests including, but not limited to, traveling alone to places that give her mother a heart attack, cheering on the L.A. Lakers/San Diego Chargers and - obviously - politics.

I woke up all gitty and charged up like it was the day of a big football game. It’s like Christmas for politicos. The weather is great and voter turn out should be at an all time high, particularly for the 4 million registered Democrats in the state.

I was all anxious to see my fellow college students pouring into the polls to cast that ever-so-important ballot. They sure were there, as were folk’s of all ages. Folks over at the Nation are saying the youth vote has the potential to swing the state into the hands of Obama. Hillary is still trudging hard by campaigning in the Philadelphia suburbs, while Gov. Rendell - a pledged Hillary supporter - is telling college student’s in his hardly pleasant gruffly voice they are “drinking the kool aid” of Obama’s speeches. Ouch!

Regardless, make an informed decision based on your convictions, go to your polling place, stand in line, chit chat with the nice retired polling offical, vote, and then go to the rest of your classes wearing the “I voted” sticker with an American flag. Extra points for rubbing it in everyone’s face!

It’s been six weeks since the last primary. Maps of the Pennsylvania electorate are all spread across TV and the collective momentum of the election gaze is cast in anticipation. Obama has grabbed the endorsement of every major paper, yet Hillary still is appealing to many working class voters. After all, 158 delegates are up for grabs… 158, a mighty large number if you’re delegate-hungry Hillary Clinton. Hillary needs a big win, particularly as Howard Dean is calling for a candidate.

“We cannot give up two or three months of active campaigning and healing time. We’ve got to know who our nominee is. And there’s no reason not to know after the last primary on June 3.”

Via. The Nation

The ante has been upped, creating a momentous Earth Day/election day here in the Keystone State. But the reality for Democratic Party is a sure-thing candidate is needed to form strategy against McCain, who’s had all this time off to formulate a plan with the GOP. We’ve cast our ballot! Have you?

Matt Dailey is a correspondent and contributor for The College Voter from Penn State University in Pennsylvania.

I got a letter from my grandmother the other day, and in it was the usual news: the azalea bushes near the side of the house are getting more buds; the postman asked after me last Monday afternoon; the neighborhood children won’t shut their incessant scream-holes.

But what stuck out most (possibly because it was written in red pen) was this question: “How about the political scene, Matthew? With PA due to vote soon, is the campus showing any involvement?”

Well Grandmother of mine, that’s a good question. Yes, I’ve heard some chanting, I’ve seen some buttons, and there are a handful of active political groups on campus. Loud voices are better than closed mouths, but they’re in the minority. And sometimes I just don’t believe them.

Over the past couple of months, I’ve heard all too many variations of this little doozie: “Well, I might vote. Or I’ll at least vote in November, you know? Wait, it’s November, right? Yea. November.”

Seriously. Something along those lines. Either way, STOP IT. I’m getting nervous and I want my age bracket to shine. Is that too much to ask?

Some students, in my opinion, are notorious for claiming to be concerned. Taking action is another issue. Actually meaning it is a whole other game entirely.

I’ll admit that, as a college student, I’m on intimate terms with laziness. I know it exists by the fistful. But as a Pennsylvania college student, I’m on intimate terms with some conventional wisdom: my vote matters. Pennsylvania carries 158 delegates, the largest amount of any state left in the primaries, and it’s safe to say that 158 is a big number, no?

Now, I fully realize that caring about issues can be romanticized. (Protesting is cool because so were the 60s! Getting arrested is nearly as neato as growing a beard! And so on.) Call me jaded or an over-reactor, but I can’t help but narrow my eyes when I think of college students’ mouths versus college students’ actions. I’m not asking for a revolution; I’m asking for democratic participation.

Over the past month, three Clintons and one Obama have dropped by the Penn State campus to give their opinions, rev up spirits, and of course to say “Vote for ______!” Now don’t tell me, student, that you didn’t hear about those visits. Don’t tell me that you’ve forgotten what a television is, or that Facebook is the internet’s only website, or that you’re not interested in your future (unless you’re genuinely not, in which case I’m sorry for your loss).

In other words, answer my grandmother’s question for me. And do it in the affirmative. Please?

And in other-other words, don’t just say you’re going to vote because it seems like that’s the right thing to say. Actually do it. Do it!

So read me, Pennsylvania student: APRIL 22^nd is today! APRIL 22^nd is the day you use up 15 minutes of your beautiful life to zip up your backpack, skip to your polling place, take advantage of your right and privilege, and make an informed decision! APRIL 22^nd, you VOTE!

Matt Dailey is a tri-state man. He hails from Asbury Park, New Jersey, and is currently grabbing for his BA at Penn State. Matt is a technical editor at a Manhattan-based environmental engineering firm, a musician at heart, and is in love with several things: words, arguments, and four-legged creatures. He spends his days searching for answers and enjoying all things wonderful.

Music: Fascinating, this. Both Obama and Clinton have appropriated theme songs used by John Edwards back in the day: Clinton–John Mellencamp’s “This is Our Country.” Obama–Bruce’s “The Rising.” What does this mean? Could it be…something significant? Actually, no: both are perfect for the populist pandering of the moment.

via Swampland/Time

Last night we noticed the “This is our country” at the same rally Mr. Klein was writing about. It was definitely an attempt for populist appeal. But, in a way, it was almost vomiting inducing. For some reason, it always makes us sad to see particular songs/artists aligned with a particular political campaign, whether it’s Obama’s use of Stevie Wonder’s “Signed, Sealed, Delivered” or Hillary’s use of Mellencamp Americana odes of celebration. Although the politics/music combination is inevitable, we just wish it wasn’t always so bland and partisan. Because music seems to transcend language, it’s a little nerve pinching when it becomes specifically aligned with a particular politician or political ideology.

At the very least, Hillary and Barack could try to add a little more umph into their pre-rally music repertoire while trying to make the entire experience more musically-palatable, rather then populist and pandering, as Mr. Klein describes. In the post-convention rallies, lets start hearing some cool - live hip-hop, perhaps? - rather then tiresome songs used in General Motors commercials. Or lets just bag the whole canned music thing and return to the era of spectacular marching bands playing Sussa marches…

Via Pollster

This campus gets excited about three things and three things alone: football, beer, and Thon - a 46 hour philanthropic dance marathon for pediatric cancer support and research.

Nonetheless, it’s been an exciting primary season here at Penn State. Earlier in this month former President Bill Clinton came and outlined Hillary’s agenda. Next, Senator Obama staged a massive, 20,000 strong rally on the steps of Old Main. A few other notable political things happen: Anne Coulter showed up, Ron Paul talked about his bid for presidency, and Chelsea Clinton came to talk about her mom. Tonight seemed as if it were the denouement of political activity on the Penn State campus, even though Pennsylvania is still in a nationally-induced, hypnotic state of political ad nausea.

Here’s my take on the event:

Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell gave a lukewarm invocation, pointing out how slim the crowd was. Perhaps the rain indeed did dampen spirits or else everyone was still in their post-Blue/White weekend hangover recovery funk. The collective energy in the room seemed exhausted. However, there was only a small group of enthusiastic supporters - all of which were middle age women. Their enthusiasm is encouraging. But, oddly enough, they remind us of eager, middle age audience members on “The Price is Right” or “The View” or in the crowd outside Rockefeller center for “The Today Show”. A few fellow college students reaffirmed my reaction and even called it “creepy” compared to the Obama rally.

Next up came Johnstown Congressmen John Murtha, who is pretty much the face of post-retirement ago awesomeness. In his trademark, blunt ways, he told us about what Hillary can accomplish.

Hillary looked tired, yet still smiled with confidence. She sounded hoarse and worn from the long, relentless campaign trail. She reminded Penn State students that her father played football for Penn State, rousing applause from the soaked audience. Her speech was full of meat-and-potatoes points: green energy, big business, change in Washington, universal health care, oil, the War(s), and, our favorite topic: college tuition.

I applaud her tuition assistance plan. Like many college students, I know tuition woes. Tonight she called for the demise of the dreaded, damned, and confusing FAFSA form aka the Free Application for Federal Student Aid form, which requires college students and their parents hundreds of hours just to fill out and then find out they are ineligible for federal aid. She called the form “a cruel joke.” She reiterated her plan to increase Pell grants, pledged to negate college debts of students pledging to serve in the public service sector (i.e. teachers and nurses), and promised to end the high interest, private loan lenders/scum-bag scandals many college students must borrow from just to fund education.

She told us about her meeting with Gordon Brown, about eco-cities, and her to create a post-Kyoto protocol with ambitious energy initiatives. She seemed to be trying to increase her appeal as a candidate perfectly capable of working with international leaders.

The Times of London compared Hillary as a Lincoln-esque figure in Pennsylvania and reiterates the decisivenessof the democratic political battle, just as the Battle of Gettysburg was decisive for a Northern victory in the US Civil War. Growing up 15 minutes from the Gettysburg battlefield, I don’t know if this is an accurate analogy, but it surely resonates.

In an e-mail from Geneva, my friend Anita Thompson, the wife of the late gonzo political journalist and American visionary Hunter S. Thompson, told me Hilliary’s “been doing this sort of thing for 35 years, just like The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan etc…” Thanks Anita! Politics be damned - Hillary really is a Bob Dylan/Keith Richards-like figure, crisscrossing the nation sharing her message of Clinton-branded, equal peace and prosperity hope. Just like a Dylan concert, the good intent is still there.

If you prefer ferocious, hair-tingling competitions to pleasant politics, this sure has been one heck of a horse race. As the polls indicate, it looks like Hillary is in the lead by a hair. On Tuesday, the front runner is going to finally cross the finish line.

Alternative title: Why People Become Jaded

Kymberly Bays is a correspondent and contributer for The College Voter from Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

The Hip Hop Summit Action Network hosted Turn Up The Vote: National Youth Hip-Hop Summit today at the Liacouras Center in North Philadelphia.

Between Wu-tanging and doing the Soulja Boi, the semi-large audience (well-short of their 10,000 goal) was treated to appearances of some of the hottest stars in hip-hop. Russell Simmons and company told the Philly crowd to vote in the Pennsylvania Democratic primaries on Tuesday if they could and to register for the November contest if they hadn’t done so yet.

The crowd seemed to take the political messages seriously. However, a large portion of the crowd was well under 18.

There were stars on the promotional flyer that did not make an appearance, including, Mike Jones, Jim Jones (no relation), Rich Boy, Webbie & Lil Boosie. Shame on them.

However, there were stars on the panel that made everyone care less about Lil Boosie not showing up: Styles P, Flo Rida, Chrisette Michelle, Rocsi & Terrence J (of 106 & Park), Emily King, one guy no one knew, DJ Green Lantern, a Reggaeton duo, Ciara…

…and most of all, T.I.

The Pope would have been jealous of the reception given to the charismatic Atlanta-based rapper.

The absolute highlight of the entire affair was spoken-word artist and North Philly native Black Ice. Peep him at his Myspace. His performance at the start of the event was hot and all of his suggestions were on point. He instantly commanded the respect of a crowd often considered more interested in a heavy beat than with meaningful lyrics.

Shout out to the Clinton supporters campaigning outside the event on Broad Street, never seen so many middle-aged white women in the heart of North Philadelphia. How nice of you to visit.

Kymberly Bays is a native of San Diego, California. No, that is not near Laguna Beach. Crazy enough to trade from Southern California weather for freezing Philadelphia, she has a broad range of interests including, but not limited to, traveling alone to places that give her mother a heart attack, cheering on the L.A. Lakers/San Diego Chargers and - obviously - politics.