16 year old voters?

Today, I had a Socratic Seminar regarding an article that talks about everything revolving the issue of allowing 16 year olds to vote in political elections/ referendums. During the seminar, I played the part of secondary (unofficial) moderator. I really tried to get people involved with the conversation. I also asked questions regarding what people were saying. However, people did monopolize on the conversation a lot. I found it very hard to squeeze myself in to the conversation. As a result, I tended to interrupt many times, so that is what I need improve.
Overall, I agreed with the points made by the author that supports sixteen year old’s right to vote, that if we treat sixteen year olds like adults, they can make adults choices. The idea that there should be a special test for an early voting permit should also be implemented.
There were many worries that young voters would make uneducated votes. So, I asked these people to define what an educated vote is. What most people said was referring to biased votes. This should not be a problem because there are so many biased votes. It managed to get people talking, so I think it was the most interesting thing I said in the seminar.

Is this the year of youth vote?

In recent years, the fact that youth suffrage at eighteen existed in the United States of America had often been overlooked. As a result, the youth voter's participation in referendums and local elections have not been high enough. This year, however, is different. The presidential elections have finally started to target the youth, because of the example that Barack Obama had made. Barack Obama was the first candidate in years to actually start targeting the youth. Barack Obama's liberal views and passionate speaches enchanted the youth. He spoke to them directly, of the progressive path he would lead the nation to. The youth felt empowered, and created coalitions to help youth voters grow in number. Thanks ot the efforts of Barack Obama, the youth of america finally feels like voting. Thanks to the surge of new voters/supporters, Barack Obama's lead position had become incumbent. Other candidates have also started to target the youth. For example, Mike Huckabee united the evangelical conservative youth to support him. This year, is the year that the power of youth will shine, as youth has been empowered. The youth has finally realized that one vote can change everything.

Democratic Primary Debate

During class, we held a mock democratic/republican primary election. What happened in class was the class picked an actual candidate running in the democratic/republican primary election. We would then pick the topic we would become experts in and represent our candidate in the topic.
I had to research and present two topics. This was a real struggle for me because what everyone had time to research only one topic, I had to research two. It was a struggle for me because I definitely would have a weakness topic in the debate. However, researching two topics actually paid off, because the candidate I was representing, Mike Gravel, had a multi-layered plan that would solve most if not all topics. Learning about two topics made it a lot easier to explain what my candidate thought.
I think I had a revelation about becoming an expert on two topics would help a lot. I was shocked on how well I did in the debate because I had knowledge on the two topics. I managed to take a spot in the top 5 delegates. I was never a fan of doing more than needed (reading the Tao of Pooh does that to you), but it turned out going the extra mile wasn’t that troublesome.
I am very neutral about all the political issues; however the candidate I represent is a lot different. Senator Gravel always had chosen what he stood for. I now wonder, “How many undecided voters are there?” I am an average American, meaning there are more people who are like me. I wonder what the candidates will do to win them over in the presidential run.