Thursday, November 16, 2006
Upski On Dems and The Youth Vote
A brilliant, must-read essay from William Upski Wimsatt on the importance of the youth vote:

The secret weapon in last Tuesday's historic election was a constituency Democrats barely bothered to recognize: young people.

Continuing a trend begun in 2004, this year's election may have produced the highest youth mid-term turnout ever. Early estimates suggest that 10 million voters under the age of 30 made up 13% of the electorate. They helped Democrats in close elections sweep into office in 25 states.

We know because our organization, the League of Young Voters, turned out 150,000 young voters who made the difference in races in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Minnesota, California, and Florida. We were just one of dozens of independent, under-the-radar, youth-led efforts to inspire and turn out young voters.

Young people are progressive on issues such as abortion, gay marriage, and immigration. Most think the country is on the wrong track, and oppose the war. They vote Democratic by a 2 to 1 margin. So why are young people overlooked by political campaigners and pundits? The answer is what we call the myth of youth apathy.

posted by Zentronix @ 8:09 AM   2 comments

2 Comments:

At 11/20/06, 12:07 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

So why are young people overlooked by political campaigners and pundits? The answer is what we call the myth of youth apathy.

Well, and the lack of youth donor dollars, to be a little cynical here.

 
At 12/21/06, 12:09 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

So why are young people overlooked by political campaigners and pundits?

The answer, not to be cynical here, is called adultism.

 

Post a Comment

 

Previous posts
Clear Channel Downsizes, Goes Private
Monday Eye Burn
Me And Josh Davis Down By The 45 Bin
Nobody Beats This Dude
R.I.P. Ellen Willis
R.I.P. Ellen Willis
Apathy :: Dead
Turning Tides
Youths and Post-Youths Do It In The Voting Booth
Victory For Kim Osorio


select * from pages where handle = "BlogLinks" #content#

Archives
June 2002
July 2002
August 2002
September 2002
October 2002
November 2002
December 2002
January 2003
February 2003
March 2003
April 2003
May 2003
June 2003
July 2003
August 2003
September 2003
October 2003
November 2003
December 2003
January 2004
February 2004
March 2004
April 2004
May 2004
June 2004
July 2004
August 2004
September 2004
October 2004
November 2004
December 2004
January 2005
February 2005
March 2005
April 2005
May 2005
June 2005
July 2005
August 2005
September 2005
October 2005
November 2005
December 2005
January 2006
February 2006
March 2006
April 2006
May 2006
June 2006
July 2006
August 2006
September 2006
October 2006
November 2006
December 2006
January 2007
February 2007
March 2007
April 2007
May 2007
June 2007
July 2007
August 2007
September 2007
October 2007
November 2007
December 2007
January 2008
February 2008
March 2008
April 2008
May 2008
June 2008
July 2008
August 2008
September 2008
October 2008
November 2008
December 2008
January 2009
February 2009
 

Email list

Add me to the Can't Stop Won't Stop email list, an irregular update of what's new in our world:

Submit