I think that this year will be the year of the youth vote. Barack Obama in particular has gotten many of the potential young constituents hyped up about voting. Even the state referendums are seeing increased voting rates. I think that young people are realizing that who they vote for today will affect their lives tomorrow. I think many young people are dissatisfied with the incumbent president, and want to put someone with a last name other than Bush or Clinton in office. I think that Barack Obama is the progressive candidate of choice for young people. Many people are saying that Obama is too young to have had experience enough to be president, and favor an older, conservative John McCain or Evangelical Mike Huckabee. What about John F. Kennedy? Was he too young for office of president of the United States? Many say he was the greatest president of all time. In any case, this is only one reason why age and experience are not an issue. I think, however, that more and more young people will begin to appear at the polls in November. I think that many of today’s young people are liberal as well and believe in progressive thinking; I think that it would be almost impossible for an educated young person to believe in traditional values or be conservative. The recent surge in youth voting is similar to what happened in 1972. In 1972, a surge of support for suffrage for 18 year olds caused lawmakers to amend the constitution and make it legal for 18 year olds to vote. With the power of the youth behind this measure made it impossible to veto for the president or anyone else. This surge in support among 18 year olds was caused by a highly publicized and controversial War in Vietnam; today, I think the same sort of controversy in the War in Iraq has caused youth voters to stand up and make it to the voting polls. Today, Barack Obama’s coalition is the strongest it’s ever been, and the youth of America are making a huge difference.
Labels: Presidential Candidates