The Youth Vote: Ignore Us At Your Own Peril

Thank you to Circle for crunching the numbers and showing, for the third time this year, the Youth Vote has grown by substantial margins AND played a crucial role in deciding the winner. In the South Carolina Democratic Primary, the Youth Vote tripled from 2004 levels!

Mike Connery, at FutureMajority.com, has been a real leader in stressing the importance of the growing youth vote. He makes the point "the idea that 'young people don’t vote' is patently ridiculous. In 2004, 49% of all voters 18-29 went to the polls. That’s millions of voters. In fact, a report by the Harvard Institute of Politics stated that more voters 18-29 went to the polls (20.7 million) than did voters over 65, the so-called reliable seniors (19.4 million)."

Circle Reports: "About nine-in-ten local party leaders say youth political engagement is a serious problem and 93% of local party leaders feel local parties can make a big difference in getting young people involved in politics." But the major problem is "only 8% of the party chairs identified young people as the most important demographic for the 'long-term success of their party,' compared to 21% (of Local Party Leaders) who named senior citizens." Source: Throwing a Better Party: Local Mobilizing Institutions and the Youth Vote

The youth vote is continually growing and is a critical part of the future of the Democratic Party. And is proving to be more critical than ever for the upcoming 2008 elections. Young people have an important voice and we will be heard. The attacks that young people do not vote are merely myths created in a mired attempt at dissuading young voters from going to the polls. The reality is, like with any other group, when politicians speak to our issues, when they work to get their message out to us, and when they show us they care about our interests, we will vote. And when we vote, we make the difference!

How is this for not voting:In 2006, it was Young Democrats who won Congress back for the Democratic Party by voting for Democrats at a larger rate than any other age group in this critically close election.The flaw in the logic of many party leaders is that they forget that young voters are critical to the long term success of the party because we ARE the future of the party. And our opponents know that simple fact. We are more than simply good for a literature drop and stuffing envelops, we are a critical part of the Democratic Party not just tomorrow, but today. We are the generation of change, the generation of hope and we will work hard for a better future. This is a commitment that can make the difference in not only this election, but elections for the next generation.

By involving young people in campaigns and elections, we train a whole new generation of party leaders. This is not just a nice theory, but a fact. Many of the critical organizers for both the Hillary and Obama campaigns are veterans of the Dean campaign. Even a failing campaign can train and reload the party with new leaders, something that cannot happen by merely concentrating on senior voters. We do not call for politicians to ignore the issues of Seniors. Social Security and Medicare mean a lot to our futures too. Locally, we care about Glendale Nursing Home and other senior programs that play a critical role in making our community a better place. We strongly believe though that concentration on these issues does not have to come at the cost of ignoring young voters. Even while immediate costs may be high, the long term payouts of Youth involvement are more than worth the effort. If party leaders fail to truly consider this point and don't expand the base by drawing in young people for more than just campaign volunteers, it will be to the peril of the Democratic Party.