Youth Vote
Posted by Katherine | May 1, 2008 – 2:51 pm
The November voter-turnout rate for the under-30 crowd promises to approach the heights of the early 70s and the 1992 spike. The youth vote also continues its recent trend of tilting Democratic.
So how do engaged young voters think about Campaign 08? One “20ish year old” in Seattle, WA, who studies political economics, works in strategic marketing communications, and calls her/himself an environmentalist, wrote a letter to Pennsylvania Governor Rendell to explain. (Found by Ann Raber.) This was prompted by Rendell’s suggestion that young voters are drinking the Obama Kool-Aid without figuring out what he actually stands for:
We may be young; but we are not ill-informed nor are we uneducated. In fact, I would argue that the majority of young voters have a much stronger grasp of campaign issues than most demographics. Take a glance at any college or university in the country, and chances are you’ll find less apathy than in any other demographic. Look at any of the political campaigns today, and you’ll see young volunteers pounding the pavement and knocking on doors, ready to speak to anyone and everyone about the issues. Find a political website, and you’re bound to see young voters go toe-to-toe in educated political debate with much older people. To be blunt, you have misjudged many of us.
We aren’t professional politicians, so it should come as no surprise that some young people can’t rattle off which legislation a candidate has sponsored. But don’t be fooled - when we come home from a campaign event, chances are you’ll find us scanning the paper and the internet for information on the candidate. We do the homework because we know what’s at stake. We’re the ones fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. We’re the one’s who can’t find jobs because of our current economic state. We’re the ones fighting to afford health care, and we’re the ones who will be dealing with climate change long after you’re gone.
Twenty-three-year-old Christopher Reinhard in Boulder, CO, readily admits to liking the Obama Kool-Aid even though he’s not entirely sure what flavor it is (thanks, Larissa Zhou):
I’m an Obama supporter, but I don’t really know why. I mean, I know why I like him. He’s got the same barrier-bending charisma that made young people fall in love with John Kennedy in the 1960s. He’s black, and I think the ridiculously narrow-minded majority of this country needs something like a black president to jar them and coax them out of their little supremist cloisters. He’s young, and like being black, that could bring about some fundamentally radical legislation in terms of marriage, war, and money. And Barack Obama not only is smart, but he sounds smart […] I’d say a well-spoken president will have a tremendous impact on foreign policy. […]
While I think of all these qualities as a new set of prerequisites for any American president, I think his are so amiable that they shroud a little of what Obama actually stands for. […]
Without rambling on about his political positioning, I want to make note of the fact that most young people aren’t as well-read as they want credit for. I’m not. I love reading but I do very little of it. And I really like Barack Obama, but not because I agree with each and every one of his proposed policies, or even know what they are. […]
Yes, we can.
That’s all well and good when it comes to a rallying cry. All I want to know is, what the hell can we? And when you do get elected in November, what the hell can you?
A little googling ought to narrow down exactly which flavor Obama is offering.
tags 2008 barackobama CO voters WA youth
2 Responses to “Youth Vote”
Young people like me (I’m 21) overwhelmingly support Barrack Obama’s candidacy.
His opponents make much of his apparent lack of experience, but this argument seems to fall on deaf ears when it comes to young voters. Sure, he’s unvetted, but so are we. Full as we are of youth and guile, we naturally favor his charisma and potential.
To say that Obama is not a legitimate candidate simply because he has not spent years in the less-than-sparkling Washington political establishment is to miss the point of his campaign.
Clinton is certainly more experienced. She has spent years in Washington and has accomplished some great things during her time there. Although I do not support her candidacy, I acknowledge her intelligence and ability. She has mastered the old politics.
We don’t need the old politics. Obama survives the attacks on his resume because he represents a new political ideal based on hope and change. While Hillary continues to build up her tough-guy image (as if we hadn’t had our fill from Bush, Jr.), Obama stands by his message. While Hillary falls into step with McCain over the moronic gas tax holiday, Obama has the courage to take an economically reasonable position despite the possible political repurcussions. His has dealt admirably and frankly with the media-created issue of Rev. Wright.
I, along with many young people, believe that what we need is not another Washington insider , but rather an OUTSIDER with the vision to unite us and to restore our reputation and integrity abroad.
What we need is not another president willing to “obliterate” Iran, but one who is willing to engage in a constructive dialogue with our enemies an our allies.
No lasting peace or stability has been built on bombs–Clinton’s experience ought to tell her that. But maybe experience isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
By Seth Bowers on May 13, 2008