Polls. Expert opinions. Numbers, percents and advertisements. Constant news reports on what John McCain said, Hillary Clinton’s fundraising or how Barack Obama did in another primary. Americans are inundated daily with professionally processed figures and constant input from a myriad of sources.
For the students of local universities, this pattern represents the norm.
This coming election, the 18-22 year-old fills a unique role on the political scene. For many, the 2008 election signals their first opportunity to vote in a national election. In Shawnee, this demographic represents hundreds of students with the potential to impact the next election.
A Time Magazine article from January titled “The Year of the Youth Vote,” reported that numbers of youth voting this year rival numbers from 1972, when the government lowered the voting age to 18. In the Oklahoma primaries, the youth vote (those under the age of 29) tripled from the 2004 elections according to the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement. Patterns of increased numbers surfaced in dozens of states; more than three million young Americans voted Super Tuesday. In the Oklahoma primaries, the youth vote garnered 31,149 for the Democrats and 46,451 for the Republicans (25 percent of total OK voters).
“Young Americans have been turning out to vote at remarkable rates in these primaries. This reflects their deep concern about the critical issues at stake and the impact of this election on our country’s future. Since 2000, young people have been volunteering at high rates and are becoming more interested in news and public affairs. Now, they are ready to consider voting as a way of addressing major problems,” said CIRCLE Director Peter Levine.
For those like Oklahoma Baptist University senior Tyler Douse, the election means much more than simply a vote. Douse spent the fall 2007 semester attending courses at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., as part of a study abroad program. Time at Georgetown allowed the Texas resident the opportunity to intern for his political and personal icon, Barack Obama. Douse participates with on-campus politics at OBU as the senior class president and chief of staff of the Student Government Association.
He said that the 2008 elections signal a change in students’ involvement with the national political scene.
“For the first time in my university experience, people are excited about the elections. Everyone’s talking about it.” Douse said he believes the Democratic party candidates stir up emotions and issues relevant to the youth.
“Our generation is starting to realize that we need to vote for our future,” he said. “In May, when my class graduates, we have to deal with issues like our own healthcare and the economy.”
An AP/Yahoo! News poll conducted in December said some “extremely important” issues to Americans are health care, the economy, social security, gas prices, the situation in Iraq and terrorism.
Some of these issues aligned with the students surveyed for this article, but none of the students listed issues like “the war” or “terrorism” as their top concern.
“All the youth I know are united in believing that the war was a mistake,” Douse said.
Instead, they brought up topics like the economy and universal health care. OBU Senior Class President and Oklahoma native, Abigail Jeffers, said she started researching the candidates months ago. She said the new president must develop affordable healthcare plans for every family and that the economy lacks stability. “The middle class is struggling,” she said. “America is ready for a change and to start a new course in a positive, healthy, strong direction.”
Chet Collins, an St. Gregory’s University student majoring in philosophy, said the economy tops his list of important, personal issues, remembering that even during summer breaks, the economy and taxes affected his summer jobs.
“The economy factors into everything else,” he said.
A Rock the Vote (rockthevote.com) Poll from February listed the economy as the No. 1 issue for students at 42 percent, followed by education at 12 percent.
“2008 is the year of the youth vote. The winner in November and the winners in these primary contests are going to be the people who reach out and successfully mobilize young people,” said Director of Education at RtV, Kat Barr.
Although the students want change and a “better” future, they hold differing views about which candidate will actually succeed in making viable changes.
“The few candidates that are left can do the job of president,” said SGU Student Government Association President Sean O’Brien. O’Brien said he will pick a candidate that he believes makes the best moral decisions, rather than a candidate that simply reflects his views on a specific topic.
Collins wants a candidate with experience in city or state management, not just experience in Congress, and said the ideal candidate has experience rather than idealism or charisma. He’s “disappointed” with the election and said none of the candidates stand out as experienced leaders.
“If worst comes to worst, I’ll just write my own name on the ballot and vote for someone I trust,” said Collins, a dedicated Republican.
Douse, a Democrat, also said he’s encouraged by the participation he observes from other students, regardless of their perspectives. “It’s only when we come together that we find solutions,” he said.
University students look to diverse sources to find political information and news. “As a busy college student, I do not have the time to watch the news,” O’Brien said. He searches the Internet with extra time because it allows him to sift through large amounts of information quickly and easily. Douse regularly checks his favorite online sites — realclearpolitics.com and drudgereport.com or CNN Politics, also a preferred choice of Jeffers. “It’s really hard to keep updated. It’s easier to get headlines and look at pictures. It’s very unwise to trust just one source,” she said. Collins turns to Fox News for information.
Each of the interviewees shared similar views on the political atmospheres on their respective campuses, primarily that students get involved when the political race, or a particular topic, gets personal. For Collins, politics have always been personal; his father serves in the military.
“As soon as students realize how much it affects their lives, that’s when they’ll get interested. I don’t think they see it as affecting them,” he said.
“Students can opt not to pay attention to the race, but in four years when they can’t afford health care, their kids are in bad schools and the country is still at war, they’ll have no one to blame but themselves,” Douse said.
O’Brien’s experience at SGU proves that students line up on both sides of the political spectrum, and also said they have a responsibility to get involved in order to seek the best representation.
“I would not say politics is a dominant interest, yet I am sure that as the election gets closer, more people will become more engaged,” he said. “I think the grasp of current politics can vary greatly depending on the students and who their friends are.”
In a poll coupled with the article, 71 percent of 18-21 year-olds expressed interest in the elections, up nearly 30 percent from 2004. Additional interest shows up in polls from older adults also.
An Associated Press poll from December said 51 percent of Americans “were tuning in to news about the presidential campaign, either a “great deal” or “quite a bit.”
Both Douse and Jeffers said the politics of the baby-boomers are dated. “Our generation is more progressive than our parents’ generation,” said Jeffers. Douse said one reason that Obama’s campaign influences the youth is because Obama’s age connects better to younger voters.
Obama, at age 47, remains the youngest front-runner of the campaign compared to Clinton at 61 and McCain at 72.
Douse said, “Our generation has an attitude that wants to turn the page.”
