Personality in Politics

What brings the kids to the polls?

The 2004 election brought the most age 18-34 year old prospective voters (41-46 %) to the polls since 1992 (38-53%).  And then in the 2008 election, even more 18-34 year-olds came out to vote (41-48%).  So my question is, what was so special about these years?

was it the Economy? Kids see their parents or their friends lose their jobs so they start paying attention to the candidates?  The Economy was at an all time low in 1992 so I would say this is a possibility except that in 1996 and 2004 the unemployment rate was almost the exact same, but the percentage of 18-20 year-olds voting went from 31% to 41%.  I think a better idea would be to look at the candidates themselves.

1992 was Clinton versus the incumbent George H. W. Bush.  2004 was John Kerry versus the incumbent George W. Bush. 2008 was John McCain versus Barrack Obama.  What do all of these three elections have in common? At least one candidate with a personality.

When Bill Clinton was campaigning he appeared on a variety of shows for younger audiences including a live appearance on MTV and famously playing the Saxophone on the Arsenio Hall Show.  Also Clinton had admitted to smoking Marijuana (but not inhaling).  Some older voters may have been turned off by Clinton's over the top personality but it apparently went over well with young voters.

In 2004, kids came to the polls to vote not for the personality, but to vote against him.   George W. Bush was seen as illegitimate after the 2000 election, and for a variety of reasons (including a strong accent, and his response to the 9-11 attacks) people saw him as a poor leader.  On shows like SNL that are popular among younger audiences, he was the butt of every joke.  It was easy to cast the vote against Bush, so young people did so in swarms.

2008 there was a personality on both sides.  John McCain was an  older man which could already alienate young voters, but his bigger problem was that he chose Sarah Palin as his running mate.  Palin is a very intelligent women who has experience running a state, but many young audiences were distracted by her strong Alaskan accent.  I remember how fast Sarah Palin jokes began to circulate during that election.

But I doubt that young voters would make the decision to vote just because they think the other candidate talks funny.  More likely the increase in young voters was a result of people voting for Obama.  Although White voter participation actually went down from 2004 to 2008, Black voter participation rate went up 4 percent overall.  When a young charismatic African America runs for President, young voter participation increases.

So what holds back young voters from going to polls on the years when there isn't a big personality?  Why don't kids exercise their voting power as often?  I think it's simply too hard for that 10 percent of the population to decide who to vote for when there isn't a big personality.

Kids are often (unfortunately), uninterested in Politics; they don't see how elections are applicable to them.  And candidates don't always make clear to young voters why it is important that they vote. In 1992, 2004, and 2008 it was not only made clear why kids should vote, but it was made clear why they should vote. Kids watching MTV saw their candidate and they said well shoot, if everyone else is voting, I should too.

It is looking like Obama currently has the young voters on his side. In a survey done by YouGov of 2,000 20-29 year-old Americans, 80 percent said  they thought that Obama would win. But the question of whether Obama will be able to bring the same amount of young voters out on November 6 is a different Question.

Kids don't always take the time to decide who will be the better President so if voting isn't an easy decision, they will decide not to vote.  Personally, I don't think this is such a bad thing.  Everyone should exercise their voting power but if they don't care about the outcome, or if they don't understand what the candidates are really about, I would rather they stay home instead of going out and voting for the guy who smoked pot.