Ashley Collab - Final Draft

New York – The November 2010 mid-term elections were considered to be a sweep for the Republicans, as they won over control of 239 seats in the House of Representatives. The mid-term elections are important to some. However, they proved to be less important to others, like young people.

Widespread masses of youth and adults alike worked to help educate and learn about the 2008 presidential campaign, with a particularly large youth following going to Obama. So the question is, where has this political youthful energy gone? According to Steven Peterson, Professor of Politics and Public Affairs, (UNCAP) at Penn State University, the answer lies in the fact that the youth are generally more excited about the presidential elections.

“They follow it more, and there’s a greater political interest, so there’s a greater overall turnout to vote,” Peterson said.

Peterson has conducted research on the youth vote in recent and past elections, and studied voting behavior data from American national election studies. He also commented on another aspect of the youth vote -- if the youth population is motivated to vote, they will.

That being said, according to recent polls from The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, (CIRCLE) an estimated 20.9 percent of all eligible young people ages 18-29 actually voted in the 2010-midterm elections. This was a slight decrease from the 2006-midterm elections, which had a 25.5 percent voter turnout. The presidential election had approximately a 51.1 percent young voter turnout.

"The difference in the presidential election from the mid-term election is that there was an effort to turn out the youth vote by Obama's campaign," Peterson said.

Editor in chief, Elizabeth Murphy of The Daily Collegian, a student operated independently published newspaper at Penn State University, commented on youth campaigning on college campuses, before the mid-term election even took place: “We have a good amount of groups who are very much engaged and energized. But, in terms of the midterm election, I’m not sure there’s going to be as much of a fervor or engagement with campus at large.”

Murphy also touched on the fact that in 2008, campaign representatives for both parties asked students once or twice a day if they were registered to vote. While this sort of effort was very much present in the presidential campaign, the same could not be said for the mid-term elections.

So how exactly should the politicians have went about addressing the youth? Perhaps by speaking to their greatest national concerns? According to Murphy, one of the biggest concerns for college youth is the job market.

“You know, we're paying a lot, thousands of dollars, to go to school for four-years-plus to find a job,” Murphy said. “No one wants to go back to mom's basement after grabbing their degree. So, I think that's something that people really want to see a solution and an answer to.”

The problem is that those sorts of issues were not widely addressed by candidates, which is one explanation as to why many students in Universities especially did not feel the urge to vote.

According to an article in The Chronicle of Higher Education, “Roughly 20 percent of American under the age of 30 voted in Tuesday’s midterm elections…Get-out-the-vote groups blamed the decline on candidates’ failure to engage young voters.”

Of several young people that were interviewed on the streets of New York City, came several responses to the mid-term elections. Of those who did not vote: many had no idea what the mid-term elections actually were, didn’t know how to go about voting through them, or were not registered in New York. However, out of seven people asked in Central Park as to whether or not they had voted in the presidential elections, all seven responded with a yes. This trend was rather similar with several other groups of youth voters that were interviewed on the streets of New York.

In reference to the Presidential Election: “Yes, that is who runs our country. I wasn’t going to not express my opinion on who I think should be in charge,” said Adam Michaels, 22, of Newark, New Jersey.

That was not the attitude taken with the mid-term elections though.

“I think it's unfortunate, but at least at Penn State's campus, there isn't this huge feeling that people need to head out and hit the polls, and, you know, make their voice heard and vote,” Murphy said.

Another interesting notion was how Democratic candidates during the mid-term elections relied heavily on the popularity that Obama gained with the democratic youth, especially when it came to reaching out to youth voters. While this is a smart tactic, there could have been more of an effort on the candidates’ part.

However, other political candidates saw the efforts of Obama and the White House to rally youth voters for the democrats, as a last minute desperate attempt, according to the Daily Caller, a 24-hour news site that focuses specifically on original reporting and breaking news. According to the Washington Post, Obama went on a series of rallying campaigns across the country at various different college campuses, as a last minute attempt to appeal to the audience that once supported him so much.

Another group that seems to play a constant role in the popularity of any election, are celebrities. They play a large role in rallying the youth vote, and played a significant role. One celebrity that had a huge influence on voters was Oprah Winfrey. With her support for Obama, his status went from political to celebrity in a short matter of time. Obama’s successful campaign efforts paired with the constant reminders from celebrities on TV, (through alternate forms of media) helped educate and instill in young people’s minds that it was extremely important to get out and be heard.

However, some forms of media decided to approach the mid-term election from an entirely different angle.

MTV decided to gear all their efforts towards pop music elections instead, which encouraged young people to vote for different music celebrities. Pop star president, pop star vice president, senate, and House of Representatives, were amongst the roles to vote for.

The ultimate goal out of this voting tactic on MTV’s part was to encourage youth to go out and vote in the mid-term elections too. However, all the Pop election really did was gear young people towards MTV, and not the mid-term elections.

Heather Smith, president of Rock the Vote, believed that candidates had failed to tailor their messages to young voters, and instead alienated them with attack ads. “Young voters…are not motivated by anger in the way that Tea Party members are.”

Professor Jeremy Varon of the New School for Social Research commented on the historical aspect of the youth vote: “The 60s were driven by youthful idealism. The history of the 60s was made by the youth and politics was no longer only something adults did.” According to the rest of his interview, the young people’s role shifted in society significantly from decade to decade. Their passion for politics came in waves, and after the 1960s period of youthful political activity, came a slump in the 1970s where there was much less youth involvement in politics.

That would explain the shift in youth voter turnout for the midterm elections, but a lingering question remains still: how will the future presidential elections compare?

“I think the primary difference in this particular election is that more young voters who voted in 2008 were motivated specifically by Obama, but he wasn’t on the ballot this year so some of them felt less motivated to turn out,” Said Keli Goff, political analyst, author and blogger.

“The vote is going to be affected by how interested young voters are…if it’s a close election, people are more interested and more likely to turn out,” Said Peterson.