We still don’t know who will be the next president of the United States. The White House hinges on the state of Florida. It’s our fault.

For the first time, our generation had the opportunity to choose our own future. Our parents’ generation sold us out from 1980-1992. The legacy of Ronald Reagan is a $4 trillion debt, an ailing social security system, a weakened environmental standard and Supreme Court Justices totally out of step with our generation. George Bush left us in a recession.

In 1992, we were still too young to vote, but our parents and grandparents reversed the trend of destructive executives by sending Bill Clinton and Al Gore to the White House. They did it again in 1996. We have benefited from the most prosperous years in history. We began to eliminate the debt. The Supreme Court remained friendly to American beliefs. We have free trade agreements that bolstered our economy. People can leave work to care for loved ones without fear of reprisal. The United States is not involved in any major world conflict. The future looked bright for us.

But Bill Clinton is a bad person. That’s what our elders said. His extramarital affair negates the positives he and Gore have brought to our generation. And they turned their fury on Gore. That didn’t have to matter. Because this election our generation had the power to keep the prosperity going, to reform health care, to solve the problems of public schools, to pay down the debt, to keep the Supreme Court from falling into the hands of radical conservatives, to ensure that one day there would be a retirement system we could use. We had the power to elect Al Gore.

So what have we done with our power? We squandered it. Once again, the 18-24 age group is the lowest in voter turnout. We haven’t been to the polls in force. For the best-educated generation in American history, we sure as hell don’t learn very quickly. Senior citizens vote in greater numbers than any other age group. They get what they want because they have proven themselves as an electoral force. We could have done the same. Instead, we sat home. We didn’t mail our absentee ballots. We took for granted a right that others gave their lives for us to have.

Our second mistake? A desperate old man from a desperate old party – Ralph Nader. With all the talk of truth in the election, Nader sought to climb the mountain to five percent by painting the other two parties as liars and evil. In fact, Nader has deceived our generation. We fell under the spell of Nader, a man who has fallen from the public view and feels an insatiable need to regain his once mighty stature. And we wasted a million votes on him. Ask yourself, how many of you truly know what Ralph Nader even represents? Do you know his policy arguments? Do you know of any experience in dealing with an economy or foreign affairs? Those of you who can actually answer these questions, ask yourself this: does George Bush see eye to eye with you on any of these issues? No, he does not. Does Al Gore? Yes, he does.

So, as we sit, waiting for a result in Florida, we are left with one inalienable truth. If he wins, our generation will be responsible for the election of George W. Bush. Our generation has squandered our future on the empty promises of a desperate third party and our unwillingness to vote. This was the election where the youth of America could have made its voice heard with a roar. Instead, we go quietly into the night with a whimper.