Her first vote Tuesday: ‘The best birthday ever’
Published 11:58 pm Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Jennifer Christle has spent the past few weeks like so many political junkies — tuned in to cable TV. She had her eyes on one channel’s Election Day clock as it ticked off the days, hours and minutes until Americans would cast their ballots.
“It’s just like one big countdown for my birthday,” the Marysville teen said Monday, the day before she turned 18 and attained the right to vote. “It’s exciting, the best birthday ever.”
A senior at Marysville-Pilchuck High School and Running Start student at Everett Community College, Christle planned to drop her ballot at one of Snohomish County’s ballot collection sites. “I’m turning into the Starbucks on 88th Street to get the ‘I Voted’ sticker,” she said.
Before a single vote had been counted, Christle was confident Monday that her presidential choice would prevail. One of countless young people newly engaged in the political process, Christle is an avid supporter of Sen. Barack Obama.
Before she was old enough to vote, she spent hours carving a pumpkin in the likeness of the Illinois Democrat. It’s one of the “Perfect Pumpkins” in The Herald’s online photo gallery (cmg-northwest2.go-vip.net/heraldnet).
The daughter of Kevin and Donna Christle, she said her support for Obama transcends party politics. “If there’s a better Republican candidate, I’ll vote for him,” she said. She suspected, but wasn’t certain, that her parents were voting for Sen. John McCain. “Usually they vote more Republican. They haven’t told me,” she said.
Whatever the outcome of the presidential race, Christle expected an election night celebration — of her birthday. “My family and two of my friends will go out to dinner in Seattle, then come home and have cake and ice cream,” she said Monday. Cake, ice cream and televised election returns were on her birthday list.
Christle’s birthday falls on Election Day every few years. As the presidential race heated up, she was thrilled to see she’d be casting a ballot this year. She registered to vote Oct. 3, after printing out an online registration form and mailing it in to the county auditor’s office. Voters are required to be at least 18 by Election Day.
With an eye on a nursing career — she’s enrolled in a medical assisting course at EvCC — Christle closely followed the candidates’ positions on health care. “I think health care is really important, making it a lot more accessible,” she said. “I’m for things that benefit the greater good, with people who make more paying more.
“I can understand the appeal of McCain. He is very patriotic,” she added. “Obama is the American dream, too, as much as McCain.”
She was troubled by McCain’s vice presidential choice. “Sarah Palin, a lot of women like her. They think, ‘She’s just like me.’ Do we want someone just like me leading our country?” Christle asked.
She also sees a generational shift, with young people taking a more global view than their elders.
“The world is getting smaller,” said Christle, who has traveled to Europe with a high school group and has visited Morocco. “Our generation, we don’t think global is a bad thing.”
Obama draws crowds on a rock-star scale, but he’s no teen idol. Before casting her ballot, Christle watched the debates, read news magazines and seriously weighed her choices.
“I care what happens,” she said. “It affects me. It’s my life.”
Columnist Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460 or muhlstein@heraldnet.com.
