Young Voters Speak Before Spoken To
Whenever a college student asks me why elected officials don't seem to care enough about the issues that matter most to young people, I give them my honest answer: They don't have to. "They know you aren't showing up at the polls," I tell them. "You are no threat to their jobs." That was before last week. Before Iowa. It has long been true that young voters could change the direction of this country. Now, for the first time in American history, it looks as though they may do just that. Many politicians, usually conservatives, have used various tactics to discourage these voters. Many times, there were too few voting machines near college campuses, and the false threat that they could lose their financial aid if they voted worked too often. As recently as last month, some presidential candidates — Democrats included — made the disappointing argument that only taxpaying citizens (translation: no out-of-state students) should be allowed to vote in the Iowa caucuses. This turned out to be a failing argument in more ways than one, as young people showed up in unprecedented numbers to participate. The overwhelming majority of them chose the one candidate, Barack Obama, who dared them to defy expectations. I've met with a lot of college students in the past couple of years, and I've been surprised by how often they sounded like baby boomers. No matter where they were in the country, they usually named the economy, jobs, health care and the future of Social Security as their top issues. Occasionally, they mentioned terrorism, but seldom the war. Also like baby boomers, many of them seemed guided by self-interest. When I asked how many cared about ending the war in Iraq, only a smattering of hands usually went up. If I asked how many would change their minds if Congress brought back a mandatory draft, virtually every hand shot into the air. In significant ways, though, young voters are different from most of us boomers. A study last year suggested that this generation of young people is the most progressive since FDR's. I am reminded of this every time a male student tells me he worries about juggling the demands of family and career. Admitting to such a concern would have been gender heresy in the 1970s, when I was in college and male students still were adjusting to coed dorms and having to call us "Ms." And unlike baby boomers, one issue that could unite young voters into a mighty force for change is the environment. From recycling and carbon footprints to fuel emission standards and the extinction of wildlife, they are more knowledgeable and more engaged than any previous generation. Now, it looks as if young voters finally may be discovering their clout. As a baby boomer often embarrassed by the self-absorption of her cohorts, I'm doing the happy-feet dance. I am weary of the cynicism of my generation and my profession, and it's been mighty amusing to watch the good-golly backpedaling of pundits who insisted that big rallies in Iowa wouldn't mean big turnout when it came to all those youngsters. I've made no secret of my excitement over the possibility of the first female president, and I've been stunned by the recent turn of events. But only a bitter fool could fail to feel the gale of young hope blowing open all the windows so that everyone can see the clouds breaking. For the first time, young voters may realize the full impact of their intentions. If that happens, there will be no stopping their faith in their own potential. Then they won't be like baby boomers at all. Connie Schultz is a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for The Plain Dealer in Cleveland and the author of two books from Random House: "Life Happens" and "… and His Lovely Wife." To find out more about Connie Schultz (cschultz@plaind.com) and read her past columns, please visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com. COPYRIGHT 2008 CREATORS SYNDICATE INC.
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