|
|
Teenagers Mike Knopf, of Dubuque, and T.J. Augustine, of Fort Dodge, represent the youth vote that perennially is held out as a great hope by both parties. Knopf, 17, is the youngest delegate at the entire convention, according to state party officials. Augustine, 19, is a sophomore at Iowa State University studying political science and pre-law.
Knopf, who will turn 18 four days before Election Day, had his every move followed by a television camera Monday at the convention. He also has been interviewed by several media outlets, including Newsweek.
"It's pretty cool," Knopf told the Quad-City Times.
That also would explain the youth's involvement in the political process. More and more of them are participating in the process, and that's a positive development for the country.
Youth turnout surged during the caucus and primary seasons. Exit poll and turnout data showed the number of young voters more than doubled in Massachusetts, tripled in Georgia and more than quadrupled in Tennessee, according to Public Interest Research Group's "New Voter Project."
That mirrored the youth turnout in the Iowa caucuses, where new and young voters showed up like never before. In fact, one out of six Democratic caucus-goers was between ages 17 and 24.
The young voters were key to victories in the caucuses and primaries, PIRG reported. It said Democrat Barack Obama won the youth vote in all states he won, and rival Hillary Clinton won a significant portion of the youth vote in the majority of the states she won.
On the GOP side, the winning Republican contender won the youth vote in 11 of 14 states with available exit poll data. John McCain, for example, won large shares of the youth vote, including 36 percent in Massachusetts, 46 percent in New Jersey and 51 percent in Connecticut.
A poll last week by Harvard's Institute of Politics said nearly 30 percent of people between age 18 and 24 planned to pay attention very closely or somewhat closely to the GOP convention.
That same poll indicated Obama has a 23-point advantage on McCain among 18- to -24-year-olds. The poll said 55 percent of the age group preferred Obama and 32 percent preferred McCain.
Younger voters do tend to favor Democrats - Howard Dean, John Kerry and Al Gore all had strong popularity among youth voters - and those numbers may be difficult for McCain to overcome.
But there is a caveat: young voters traditionally haven't turned out on Election Day. In recent elections, the voting percentage among 18- to 24-year-olds has ranged well below that of the rest of the population.
"Waiting for the youth vote is like waiting for Godot," Steven Schier, a political scientist at Carleton College in Northfield, Minn., told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune this week.
Another political scientist, Larry Jacobs, of the University of Minnesota, said he is "skeptical" the youth vote will turn out for the general election as it did during the caucus and primary season.
We hope the youth vote does stay involved in this election. There are many issues that need to be discussed and paths this country needs to choose, and they should be involved in the process because those decisions and paths will affect them, too.
