Some call our generation apathetic. I beg to differ. Today, we, as the young people of America, are mobilized, care about the issues and are active citizens of the world. While we may appear to generally distrust and criticize politicians, this stems from our desire to have politicians and their politics reflect our visions rather than only those of our parents’ generation.
Today we are ready to start taking responsibility for the actions and destiny of our country. In doing so, we will demand elected leaders listen to us. The general elections in 2004, 2006 and the 2008 primaries demonstrated we are ready to have our voices heard in politics. Turnout on Election Day will determine whether politicians will actually listen to our generation in the coming years.
In 1971, 18-year-olds finally secured the right to vote. The 26th Amendment passed with record speed, which is hardly surprising if one considers that American generals had been pushing for an 18-year-old voting age since the days following the Civil War. In the first year following the 26th amendment, 11 million new voters appeared on the scene, and voter turnout for the 18 to 21 age group was 48.25 percent.
By 2000, voter turnout among young people dropped to an embarrassing 29.5 percent. In the first years of the Bush administration, we realized if we wanted to be heard, we needed to vote. As a result, the 2004 elections saw a surge of the youth vote. Between the 2000 and 2004 elections, voter turnout among young people increased by 11 percent, which was three times the average increase among other age groups.
This past winter, the candidates running for president clearly saw the importance of the youth vote, which was shown by young people’s enthusiasm and activism in the primaries. Students turned out in droves to support Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton by both voting and volunteering. Obama’s success in Iowa was largely because of college students’ organizing. When Clinton suffered a defeat in the Iowa caucus, she turned her attention to the youth of New Hampshire. She went on to an astonishing victory in that state.
Here we have to pause and ask why the youth vote is all too often overlooked. Cell phones, ironically, are a big part of the answer. Our generation does not usually use land-line phones and is not included in the vast majority of the national polls. If pollsters overlook us, it is tempting for the rest of the nation to as well. In 2008 this will change because we have a presidential candidate who wants to give our generation a seat at the table. Barack Obama brings a fresh approach to politics and offers real solutions to the problems of our generation.
We have the tools to turn out the youth vote. We have access to easy, cheap technology necessary for reaching out to young voters. We have the energy and the skills. We simply have to get out there and make a difference.
This is the year of the young voter. So get registered and cast your vote. Let’s show the world what a chorus of millions of young people sounds like when we shout loud and clear on Election Day and elect Obama president of the United States.
Claire Rydell ([email protected]) is chair of the College Democrats of Madison.