Why don't young adults vote? It seems so peculiar to me that they are often the first one's to open up their mouths to complain about stuff, but they are the last ones to go vote on election day. I CONSTANTLY hear people complaining about the high cost of tuition, the high cost of books, blah, blah, blah... but come election day, is anything done? No. People my age are too lazy to get to the polls, so why would the candidates for ANY office listen to them? Not only do we not get out and vote, but we also don't make campaign contributions... neither time nor money.
As the article points out, our age COULD be the swing vote. We could finally get a candidate willing to listen to us, but we have to get out and vote. The article says 60 percent of people our age think we are headed in the wrong direction with the war in Iraq. Our age group is also the one's FIGHTING in Iraq. If we want anything changed, it is simple, make them listen.
Unfortunately, no matter how much people like me preach, no matter how many people you try to get to register early and remind to vote, less than 50 percent of people under 30 will vote in 2008. Could this finally be the year that we wake up? Probably not, but we can at least hold out hope.
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http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/12/05/poll.young.vote/index.html
I thought I attatched this, but apparently not. Here is the article.
I completely agree with you. It's unfortunate that people are unwilling to actually go out and make a difference with their vote. People are so quick to complain, but they never actually take action.
This might be slightly off topic, but this also raises - in my mind - the issue that some people just don't care in general. They hear rhetoric from the media or their friends on how the war sucks etc., but they don't actually know what they're talking about. They don't pay attention to the news, do research on issues... they just spout off angrily based on what they've heard, which is barely scraping the surface. Some will vote, but when you ask where a candidate stands on an issue their response is, "I don't know but they're a democrat (or republican) so that's why I voted for them."
Frustrating....
I whole-heartedly agree with you. I hate to have to take such a negative outlook on our generation but there is no way we will see a large turnout in 2008. Young voters are notoriously lazy and overtly opinionated. Voters under 30 will preach to you about their political views until they are blue in the face, but they will not take that extra set to get away from the computer or TV and make their opinion count.
This problem with young voters does not seem to be anything new. It makes you wonder what may contribute to this continuing phenomena. Although there are many young people willing to espose their views to anyone willing to listen I do not think it would be unreasonable to assume there are also a significant number who do not care about politics or think it does not affect them. Some may feel very far removed from the old boys club that seems to run the politics of this nation. One other area that might be of more interest to investigate is how many young people know how to vote, especially when they are away at college. Despite the people you will see around campus registering students to votes, every year I hear people saying they think they cannot vote here because this is not where they are from. Could this be a significant factor in why the numbers of the youth vote are so low?
I've been also saying this for years, even locally because people around UWM complain about tuition, parking, crime, etc. Yet, when it comes to changing things they don't come out to vote. We did see a bump in younger people voting in the 2004 and 2006 election, but yet a far cry from what it should be. Since the majority of people in Iraq are between the ages of 18-25, hopefully this will bring a surge in voting in 2008
Wow I couldn't agree more! I find it extremely annoying to constantly hear about young people complaining about the costs of tuition and what not, yet they don't vote! I'm not expecting every college student to vote, or care, but if you're going to complain about something that directly affects you, then why wouldn't you vote. It also surprises me of the amount of young people who know nothing about the 2008 election or even politics in general. As you stated in your blog, our age could be the swing vote! That is huge. I can't understand why someone would not want to be a part of that. Afterall, our generation are the ones that are going to be determinging our nation's future in the years to come.
voting doesnt take much effort but i cant understand why people feel helpless. you can vote for someone because of what their platform is based on, but when they get elected to office, is it really possible to easily following what they're voting for in congress for example?
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