Official Participant in the Youth Media Blog-a-Thon

From The Playground

It’s election time and my favorite (not) question is being asked of me again.

“Hey Grace, you want to be President, how would you fix all these problems if you were president?”**

Yes, it’s true. I do want to be the President of the United States someday. It’s been a goal of mine since I was eight years old when my feminist mother encouraged me to dream big.

But just because that’s where I want to be in the future does not mean I know how to fix the worlds problems right now. I doubt Obama or McCain had solid plans for economic reform when they were 22. And why should I?

There are so many things I have to learn about politics and campaigning before I can make plans on how I would run the country. That comes over time with experience and a team of experts that help you come to these decisions. The President doesn’t sit in the Oval Office alone thinking of what to do next. There is a team of people that help him make plans for the country.

I have a lot of ideas of what kind of President I’ll be but that doesn’t mean any of them will float once I actually can run for President. We have no idea what types of problems the U.S. or the world will face in 2028.

Sure, we know that if we do not move forward with becoming a green society we will face serious environmental problems in the future, but we don’t know if that’s going to happen. If Obama is elected and follows through with his plans, then we should be alright. If McCain is elected, then we have a ton of work to do to try and clean up his oily mess.

Politics change, people evolve. We learn new things every day. It’s impossible for me to predict what I am going to do 28 years from now. I can hope that things turn out a certain way and work to make those things happen, but there are still other things that I have no control over that may make me change my mind.

Until then, I’ll continue to answer the question with a smile and the best way I know how, in true political style; “I don’t know. I’ll get back to you on that one.”

*My six-word memoir I came up with the other day. Check out more here. **This question has been asked of me for as long as I can remember.