We need more unity in politics

I’m 17, so this is only the second time I’ve fully experienced a national election. But I think I can answer my main question. While the same actions surrounding elections have been going on for a long time, I don’t think elections were always like this one. They weren’t as intense. And with all the intense arguing and campaigning, I wonder how politicians can do their job of governing the country.

I’m not the only one who wonders. Here’s a message you might see again: “To the Congress of the United States: As We the People vote today we are asking you to do your part and end the blame-game politics of Washington. Partisan bickering cannot solve the crucial issues we face. America deserves better.�

That is the content of the Unity Petition, a petition to Congress that high school students at voting places around the country will ask voters to sign on Election Day. The Unity Petition speaks for itself: Its aim is to push Congress to stop bickering and get things done.

The idea for a Unity Petition came from Unity08, “a group of citizens deeply concerned that the wheels have come off our political system,� its Web site says. Unity08 wants “to return the focus of our politics and policy to the common good.� The organization plans to run a third ticket in the 2008 presidential election — a Democrat and a Republican together, a Unity ticket. But Unity08 isn’t “looking to build a new and permanent party. That might happen, but our objective is to fix the old parties.�

And according to Fiona Forney, Pennsylvania’s Unity Petition state coordinator, the Unity Petition is not the same as Unity08 and the Unity ticket. Forney is a junior at Annville-Cleona High School; she lives about 10 minutes south of Hershey. Unity08 had the idea for the petition, but “the Unity Petition is 100 percent student-led,� Forney said. Students from organizations such as HOBY (Hugh O’Brian Youth), Boys State, Girls State, JSA (Junior State of America), and other groups are coordinating the national, state and local Unity Petition effort. As Pennsylvania’s state coordinator, Forney is in charge of all recruitment in the state and is responsible for building a state petition board made of students. Forney is also the regional coordinator for western states like California, Hawaii and Oregon.

Forney and other students leading the petition project hope to have “six high school students at every polling place in the country.� But as Forney stressed in our conversation, “we need people.� In Pennsylvania, students from one-quarter of the counties are involved. But that’s not every county — no one in York County is involved yet. Forney expects that “everything will start rolling in mid-October,� after the Unity Petition’s press debut on the 12th.

I think the students involved with the petition project typify the resolve some students have to lead and influence our society. When I asked her what her general thoughts were on the whole issue, Forney said, “We’re in a time where change has to come, and of all the previous generations, we’re the one that can bring change.�

“The main focus is the Unity Petition,� Forney said. “We need the numbers to put behind the message.� Part of that means more volunteers for the petition project, but most of it means as many signatures on the petition as possible. The Unity Petition Web site says, “The more who sign the more powerful the message will be.� And, “One thing politicians know how to do is to count voters.�

But the only way this has a chance at working is if students volunteer. And if enough students volunteer and enough voters sign the Unity Petition, Congress just might respond.

The Unity Petition Web site is www.unitypetition.com. The Unity08 Web site is www.unity08.com.

Jake Mokris is a home-schooled student and member of the Teen Takeover staff.