Youth in the Midterm Elections

The results of the recent midterm elections came as a surprise to many, with the Republicans sweeping the House and taking control of six seats in the Senate. After Obama’s massive victory in the ‘08 presidential elections, that focused a majority of its attention on first time voters, the results caused people to stop and ask have the youth lost interest and stopped voting?

The 2008 presidential election is one that will be remembered by everyone who participated it in and not only because Obama became the first Africa-American President. I can remember sitting in my dorm room on the 12^th floor and hearing endless screams of excitement from the street. People flooded the streets to celebrate what they thought of as a new era of politics. Obama’s HOPE posters were lining the streets, while young voters headed to Times Square to watch the results on the big screen.

Flash forward two years to the midterm elections, and there were no rallies in sight. "I'm a big Obama fan even though he hasn't done shit. Obama's the man." Jordan, a 22-year-old student, said. It is clear that Obama made a massive impact on the young voters during the presidential elections, but many feel as if he is letting them down. The youth vote is guided by big campaigns and messages of hope, which were much less present in this year’s midterm election.

Many feel over burdened by the economy, and with many raised expectations, it isn’t surprising that President Obama is starting to disappoint. “One third of the young people came to blame Obama himself for failing to deliver on his promises,” said political analyst William Cox. “The fact that the youth supposedly blamed Obama so personally could allude to the idea that the youth are somewhat naïve since it is not really the fault of one individual, no matter how much power that person may have.”

First time voters in the ’08 election put all of their trust in Obama to turn the state of the nation around 360 degrees. These voters are now much less interested in politics and voting after seemingly being letdown by Obama’s big promises. When asked if she voted in the midterm election, Diana Barton, 20, Albany, New York responded that she did not have enough time, but when asked about the presidential election she was much more enthusiastic. “Yeah of course! I mean, who didn’t vote in the election?”

A lack of campaigning and publicity surrounding the election definitely decreased enthusiasm in voters. There were excuses ranging from, having no time to pure laziness. “Midterm elections? Didn’t know we had those.” Said Allen Magnesun, 22, New Jersey. “These young people are willing to participate and be active by nature, but they are not going to show up unless they are invited.” Said Heather Smith of Rock the Vote. "There's a new way of doing politics, and that's what helped put candidates in office in 2008," she said. "They abandoned that playbook in 2010, and I find that shocking." The 18- 24 year old voter was politically wined-and-dined in preparation for the presidential elections, but when the time came again for candidates to rally young voters, and hypothetically invite them to vote, they left them sitting on the couch with no sense about what to do next.

Although many social networking sites, such as Facebook and Twitter had applications in which users could show they voted, many clicked who did not vote. These young voters admit that they are not keeping up with politics on a weekly, or monthly basis, but just prepare in time for a big election. CIRCLE analysis stated that there was an increase in youth voting in places where the Vote Again 2010 coalition was highly active, and witnessed a decrease in voter turnout in the seven states where the coalition was the least active.

At the time of the presidential elections, students became invested in politics. They protested and became enthusiastic about certain issues. This idea of protest and electoral politics seems to be the driving force behind getting youth interested and motivated to vote.

“The youth demographic became initially more important when they became mobilized in protest politics—which is when political issues take precedence over an actual candidate.” Deva Woodley, a Professor at The New School said. “The 1960’s examples of “protest politics” took the form of the Vietnam War and the Civil Rights Movement.

As was proven with Obama, the youth rallies to get behind a strong political candidate that they can believe in. “Though protest politics and electoral politics differentiate—It’s basically the reason why they mobilize—they often bleed into each other. Candidates often taking up the issues that are attracting debate and protests.” Deva Woodley said.

The more that the youth population feels they are part of something bigger, the more likely they are to vote. The 18-24 year olds of our country need to be coddled and strongly directed to the voting booths by candidates at all times, not just during a presidential election.

"I think it was the hype during the presidential elections a couple years ago that really got me to vote.” Said a 21-year-old male. “Now, I don't really see what it was all for."