Freelance
Teen Columnist

My last column received very negative feedback, but that very feedback serves as the basis for what you may be reading right now.

The presidential election of 2004 was probably the one in which the largest number of 18- to 21-year-olds have participated in the history of U.S. elections.

This was mostly due to Sean “P. Diddy” Combs’ “Vote or Die” campaign to encourage young, hip and modern kids to vote.

Now we find ourselves in 2008 with more young voters registered and actively participating than ever.

Now I could devote this whole column to my opinions about the race and who I’d vote for if I were of voting age. But I won’t. And here’s why.

After reading comment upon comment on various stories of the online Tucson Citizen, I’ve noticed that some readers are quite vicious; I’d quote them, but the ridiculous comments would go on forever.

The last thing I want to do as a young adult is express my thoughts on this election and then have my ideas torn to pieces by readers who think I’m “too young to have an opinion” or “haven’t lived long enough to know what’s fair and right.”

I am a firm believer that an opinion should always be expressed, but I also believe that sometimes, especially in a community like Tucson, it’s better to keep some ideas to yourself.

Tucson is a city of extremes. Most citizens are either too liberal or too conservative (mostly conservative).

I choose to not tell in which direction I lean. If I did tell, I’d know what to expect. The liberals would think I’m a tree-killer or a Muslim-hater, and the conservatives would think I’m some crazy, doped-up teenager with nothing on the brain except drugs, extreme liberties and premarital sex.

Now I will express just a bit of my opinion, regardless of the criticism I receive.

I can only hope that the candidate who wins the election in November has common sense – the common sense our current leader so clearly lacks.

I pray that it is someone who recognizes our presence in you-know-where (I think we all know where) as ridiculous.

Last, I hope our country’s new commander in chief will take steps to bettering the state of our suffering planet Earth.

The election isn’t about the economy, tax cuts, health care or any of that anymore; it’s about human dignity.

The question now is, where are our values and our priorities as voters?

Keep that in mind on Election Day, even though I could very well just be some inexperienced tree- hugger or doped-up teen.

Teen columnist Rachelly Suriel is a junior at San Miguel High School.

E-mail: rachellys170@yahoo.com

Citizen Staff Writer

BLAKE MORLOCK

bmorlock@tucsoncitizen.com

Publishing mogul and former GOP presidential candidate Steve Forbes took a swing through Tucson on Friday to campaign for state Senate President Tim Bee’s challenge to rookie Democratic congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.

Bee, a Republican, and Forbes, who won the Arizona Republican primary in 1996 during his failed bid for president, toured Abrams Airborne Manufacturing, 3735 N. Romero Road, near Prince Road and Interstate 10.

They then went to a fundraiser at McMahon’s Prime Steak House.

The tour of the Abrams plant was meant to highlight the challenges that federal regulations and taxes can pose to small business.

Gary Abrams, who inherited the family aerospace sheet-metal business when his father, Harold “Bud” Abrams, died two years ago, has been forced to buy “a lot of insurance” to prepare for the day when his mother dies because he will be hit with a tax equal to a quarter of his business’ worth, Abrams said.

“It’s the death tax that’s a challenge to keeping businesses in family succession,” Abrams said.

Abrams’ predicament prompted Forbes to restate his opposition to the estate tax.

“You should be allowed to leave this life unmolested by the IRS,” Forbes said.

Forbes ran for president in 1996 largely on the idea of a “flat tax,” in which everyone pays the same percentage.

Bee would not go so far Friday as to endorse such a tax.

“We need serious reforms of the tax code to lower tax rates to create more investments,” Bee said.

Bee also promised to fight to reduce regulations that are not imposed in nations such as China, one of America’s fiercest economic competitors.

Bee is challenging Giffords for the seat representing Arizona’s 8th Congressional District, which covers most of southeastern Arizona.

Arizona Democratic Party spokeswoman Emily Bittner said in an interview Friday night that the estate tax and regulation are not what’s hurting the American economy.

“To be talking about the estate tax when the real problem is the mortgage crisis, record gas prices we are paying, health care, is beyond absurd,” Bittner said.