The Voices of today's Youth: Our Vote, a Glimmer of Hope

With Election Day rapidly approaching an air of doubt about the future of our economy and our country has been instilled in the American voters. Among these voters are the youth, the new generation of American voters. A political survey taken by Harvard University's Institute of Politics found that seven of ten voters 18 to 24 years old see the political engagement of voting as an "effective way of solving the countries problems." Today's youth voters are confident by contributing to the presidential electoral process they are doing their part in turning the fortunes of a nation heading obviously in the wrong direction.

When most people think of young voters they usually associate the traits of immaturity and of being easily persuaded into the equation. What those people are not aware of is that today's youth are anything but oblivious. In a Newsweek interview with Sean Barry, a 21 year old college student at the University of California who majors in Political Science Barry expresses his concerns for the future of the country. "All of us are thinking about jobs after we graduate, what we're going to do about health care," says Barry, "I'm definitely concerned — about the economy, about the war." He's voting for Senator Barack Obama come Election day says Barry. Sean has been very active to get Obama elected from working the phones in New Hampshire to pumping up would-be voters in Nevada before a caucus in January.
Christian Osemna a graduate-to-be at the University of California this December has seen first-hand the overwhelming student engagement in the election process this year. "There's something cool about getting involved this year," said Osmena. Christian a supporter of Senator John McCain like many youth voters of his generation are very in-tune politically especially through the utilization of the Internet.
Though a firm supporter of McCain, Osmena credits the Obama campaign for their efforts in drawing in the youth voters. "We've done a huge amount of organizing using the Internet, and we've used new technology in ways that really captured young voters' attention," said Kirsten Searer, spokeswoman for Obama. The use of text messaging on sites such as Facebook and Youtube has contributed substantially to the drawing in of newly registered young voters.
Other young voters show their support for their candidates based on thier own life struggles. Lee Watson, 20, a member and recruiter for the U.S Army has decided to vote for McCain. Watson, an African American made it clear that he would vote for John McCain saying that he was influenced not by race but because he wanted his first vote to go to "someone who's at least served in a military branch." Chet Hollingshead an Iowa State University senior lives on a 1,500 acre farm with his family and he is not a supporter of McCain (along with many other Iowans) because of his pledge to cut food prices by eliminating ethanol subsidies and tariffs on imported ethanol. "Without those important tax credits, the ethanol industry wouldn't have gotten off the ground," Hollingshead said. Chet along with other young registered voters his age are feeling the heat as they try to start their careers and families after college.
The youth vote is extremely important not only because its another vote toward the election of our next president, but also because their votes are genuine because they truly reflect the future interests of the country. Whichever party takes control by winning this election could quite possibly usher in a trend of a particular party's control in future elections. As young voters begin registering and participating in the electoral process we could possibly see a shift in interests (such as Conservativism to Liberal ideas or vice versa). The point is the participation of new voters into the political system is extremely important. The fact that the youth of America are becoming more educated and interested in politics is a very encouraging sign in trying to eliminate the turmoils of the United States. With knowlegde and determination we can dig ourselves out of the current economic recession.

Link: http://www.newsweek.com/id/167077/page/1