Posted on 11/09/2006 8:41:08 AM PST by Luis Gonzalez
BOSTON: Young Americans voted in the largest numbers in at least 20 years in congressional elections, energized by the Iraq war and giving a boost to Democrats, pollsters said.
About 24 per cent of Americans under the age of 30, or at least 10 million young voters, cast ballots in Tuesday's elections that saw Democrats make big gains in Congress. That was up 4 percentage points from the last mid-term elections in 2002.
"This looks like the highest in 20 years," said Mark Lopez, research director of the Centre for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, which compiled the data based on exit polls. "Unfortunately, we can't say if it's a record because we don't have good comparable data before 1986."
Rock the Vote, a youth-and-civics group, said young voters favoured Democrats by a 22-point margin, nearly three times the margin Democrats earned among other age groups and dealing a potentially decisive blow to Republicans in tight races.
"The turnout was awesome," said 21-year-old Katryn Fraher, a political science major at the University of New Mexico who helped build a giant map of local polling stations for her school and was among a group of students walking the campus on Tuesday with a blackboard that counted down the time to vote.
But despite the big turnout, it may not be a record.
In the 1982 mid-term election during the Reagan administration, youth turnout reached 27 per cent, but that was among voters aged between 18 to 24 instead of under 30 as measured by Wednesday's exit poll estimates.
Republican pollster Ed Goeas said young voters could have swayed a number of tight races on Tuesday, noting that of 28 seats Democrats picked up from Republicans in the 435-member House of Representatives, 22 were won by less than 2 per cent of the vote and 18 were won by just 5000 votes or less.
"The increase in the youth vote did come into play," he said.
As Republicans fought to keep control of Congress, both parties sought to rally young voters who turned out in record numbers in the 2004 presidential election.
At the University of Iowa, some students doubled as "Human Vote Billboards" with messages exhorting students to vote in the battleground state where Democrats won several races.
"It went well," said Brant Miller, 24, at the University of Iowa. "We got a bunch of students to get out there and vote."
Added Kelly Dolan, 24, at the University of Rhode Island: "The only way we can make politicians pay to attention to people our age is if we turn out in record numbers."
A poll by Harvard University's Institute of Politics last week showed that by a three-to-one margin, young Americans said the country was on the "wrong track."
Forty-six per cent favoured a total troop withdrawal from Iraq within a year, while a third said troops should be withdrawn after the Iraqis take full control.
Future elections could also be at stake. The "Generation Y" of Americans born from 1977 to 1994 – shaped by the Sept. 11 attacks, the Iraq war and Hurricane Katrina – in nine years will make up a third of the electorate.
Pathetic. Ultra high turnout=24%!
Talking to some of these "utes" makes me think we need to raise the voting age to 40.
Talk to the lamestream mess, as they can make that figure anything you want it to be with a stroke of a mouse. :)
I am hearing about this group, moderates, independents, etc.;
all based on exit polls. I wonder what the real answer is?
The GOP could own this demographic if they would make social security reform a serious issue for 2008. I certainly hope that the eventual GOP nominee does exactly that.
The kids of the boomers, many of whom have yet to be deprogrammed, are hitting. The worst cases are the ones raised in very liberal and wealthy parts of the country - that's where all the draft dodgers and educational deferments ended up. Many current execs and others who are 50something and wealthy were anti war freaks during 1965 - 1975.
There was a myth for a long time that high turnout favored democrats (political scientists favorite mantra). 2004 put an end to that. Now they're trying again to sell that myth.
will it ever end?
Actually I've thought that for a long time. What would really make sense is to have different voting ages for different levels of office. Let 18 year olds participate in the election of the town council and local school board by all means. But virtually no 18-21 year old has any valuable insight into national and global affairs, and few people under 40 really have the necessary perspective to avoid getting caught up by short-term, hot button issues.
There was a myth for a long time that high turnout favored democrats. 2004 put an end to that. Now they're trying again to sell that myth.
will it ever end?
The irony is that the dems are far more likely to institute a draft than the pubbies. If they thought they were voting to avoid war and military service, they are so sadly wrong.
When we had a draft (which is a hypocritical abomination in a country that claims to enshrine freedom), it was rational and ethical to extend the right to vote to anyone who could be drafted. But a better answer would have been to end the draft (which thankfully has since happened, but we're still stuch with a legacy of clueless young voters cluttering the electoral process).
My daughter was a Republican poll watcher on campus on Tuesday. She was assigned to one of the on-campus polling places at the University of Wisconsin. Yes, there are multiple polling sites on the campus just for students. It could not be easier for students to vote. She was in one of the dining halls. The turn-out is high and overwhelmingly democratic, duh. There are nearly fifty thousand students at UW in Madison.
Their voting habits might change once they're 35 and mommy and daddy (or mommy and mommy, or daddy and daddy) finally kick them out of the house.
"The kids of the boomers, many of whom have yet to be deprogrammed, are hitting"
Actually boomer's children have been voting for more than a quarter century.
Well, payback's a Hillary and it was their future that got tossed away. Too bad it will take too long for them to realize it.
Signed,
Your Gen X older brother.
2006 proved a few points.
1) A minority party (when supported by the mainstream media) can gain political power through an opposition to war, regardless of the merits of the war.
2) A democracy must fight, win, and be out of any major conflict before the next election.
And those of us who are 18-21 in the military? We have no say as to who is going to represent us? Or do we lack the perspective needed to elect those who directly or indirectly control us?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.