As of January 20th, High School Musical turned 10 years old. Now, I remember watching the premiere, back when I was I guess 8 years of age, so that makes me feel pretty old. But, y’know what else makes me feel old? The fact that I’m voting in the 2016 presidential primary and general election! In honor of both of these milestones, here’s my analysis of this stage of the 2016 election, told through the lens of High School Musical.
As I’m writing this article, the Iowa caucus hasn’t happened yet. As you’re reading this article, the Iowa caucus is either happening or has already happened. That’s no small deal. Whoever wins the first state gets a ton of momentum going into New Hampshire and all the rest of the primaries. Momentum can be a powerful force- just ask Wildcats basketball Coach Jack Bolton. One team gets a few quick baskets at a crucial moment in the game and the opposing coach immediately calls a timeout to let things settle down. To get their players heads on straight. To forget about the past and focus on the rest of the game.
I’m calling a timeout.
Oddly enough, my timeout isn’t directed at the “players”. The sheer number of candidates still in the race is proof enough that they aren’t giving up, and they certainly have campaign managers with more expertise than myself to guide them in moving forward after seeing the results of Iowa. My timeout is directed at the fans, or to be more precise, the voters.
The way this election is being covered in the media, we’re pretty much being told what to think. We’re pretty much being told who to vote for. We might as well have turned the game off after the pregame analysis because the sportscasters’ predictions are being presented as inevitable. I was reading an article in the NY Times the other day discussing the Republican dilemma of having to choose who would be worse for the party- Trump or Cruz. Never mind the fact that there are indeed other candidates still running. For anyone who was favoring any other republican candidate, to read over and over again in the media that your candidate doesn’t have a shot is probably enough to coerce you to move on to supporting a new candidate, but that certainly doesn’t seem feel very democratic to me. Troy Bolton understands how I feel:
“Why am I feeling so wrong?
My head's in the game
But my heart's in the song”
Electability is an important factor, but, who is to say that the talking heads on TV get to determine who’s electable? No doubt, this practice is going to ramp up following the Iowa caucus, with more and more data fueling popular opinion. I realize that Iowa is statistically significant, but what about our personal opinions? We’re being coerced to ignore them. This is what is happening when we...
“Don't mess with the flow, no no
Stick to the status quo”
That’s one option, but if we agree to stop absorbing opinion as fact and believe that we can effect change, then...
“This could be the start of something new”
As all the candidates work to "Bop to the top"...
...and reach the White House, we must remember that they require our endorsement to get there. If a candidate doesn’t strike you with the impression that...
“I've never had someone as good for me as you
no one like you
so lonely before I finally found
what I've been looking for”
...then don’t be pressured by the media to vote for them because they’ve dominated conversation, never mind the fact that election day is still months away, and there are still 49 primaries to be carried out.
In the end, your candidate might not win. The media may have been right, but...
“if we’re trying, yea we’re breaking free”!
Plus, there’s always the general election to vote for someone that you might not be so passionate about.
For now, as voters, “We’re all in this together!”, and it’s up to us to pick the candidate that WE feel is the best for the job.
