The Official Student News Media of Southeastern Louisiana University

The Lion's Roar

The Official Student News Media of Southeastern Louisiana University

The Lion's Roar

The Official Student News Media of Southeastern Louisiana University

The Lion's Roar

    Do your research and vote for the right reasons

     Every once in a while an irritating and irrelevant person will squirm into the limelight to simply confuse and annoy, and nowhere is this more evident than with former 2012 Presidential Race candidate Rick Santorum.

    Santorum carried away 10 of Louisiana’s 20 delegates after the 2012 Louisiana Republican Primaries, which is lamentable, but it is only a symptom of the true problem. The issue is rooted within Louisiana voters and what they apparently want in a presidential candidate. Santorum announced that he ended his campaign on April 10 due to his inability to compete with Mitt Romney at the polls.

    Thankfully, other states seem to have a handle on what we need in the White House, but it would be unwise to ignore what Santorum’s victory in Louisiana says about Louisianians.  

    Santorum presents himself as “a champion of traditional American  values.” He has received a lot of attention for his black and white views on issues such as birth control, abortion and same sex marriage, and he has pushed legislation influenced by these views and has even based his campaign upon them. Everyone has the right to their opinion.  However, when you take your morals and attempt to turn them into laws that affect everyone, friction occurs.

    Voters who support this kind of candidate seem to be out of touch with the broader scope of the country, which includes people of many faiths, races and cultures with different beliefs and customs.  Crack open a history book and see the affects of the legislation of morality; it just doesn’t work.

    America once contended with the prohibition of alcohol, which led to an increase in illegal activity rather than a decrease. We fight over same-sex marriage, the legalization of marijuana and state funding of birth control and abortion. But no matter how much you try to ban things like this, folks will find a way.

    Why are votes being wasted on politicians that build themselves upon the unstable platform of morality that they themselves often have trouble adhering to? Where are the votes for candidates that know what the problems are and how to fix them? Where are the candidates that are less concerned with what goes on in your bedroom and more about the economy or how to solve world hunger?

    Voters must consider the true effectiveness of their candidates and not get caught up in the smoke and mirrors of moral issue campaigns.

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