A movie asks: will 18- to 24-year-olds vote in 2008?

[babylonsister]

A movie asks: will 18- to 24-year-olds vote in 2008?
By Margaret Talev | McClatchy Newpapers

* Posted on Friday, November 16, 2007



WASHINGTON — Ah, the "youth vote." Politicians pay it lip service, but no candidate wants to bank too much on how many college kids will remember to get absentee ballots. Not to mention non-college kids.

In 1971, Vietnam War politics lowered the voting age from 21 to 18. Youth turnout was 52 percent in 1972's Nixon vs. McGovern presidential election, but slid over the next three decades, down to only 36 percent in Bush vs. Gore 2000. The only exception: 1992, when young Bill Clinton prompted 48.6 percent turnout among voters 18 to 24.

The youth vote did expand again in 2004, when 47 percent of voters aged 18 to 24 turned out. What set off that spike? Anger at the 2000 Bush-Gore post-election overtime? Outrage at the 2003 Iraq war? Web-driven enthusiasm for a certain Vermont governor beloved by "Deaniacs"?

The latest U.S. Census estimate counts 28.2 million 18- to 24-year-olds residing in the United States. Will they vote in 2008?

Some candidates hope so. Democrat Barack Obama, 46, borrowed from "Rock the Vote," the nonpartisan youth mobilization group created by musicians in 1990, with his Web site, http://baracktheyouthvote.org/. His strategy depends in part upon turning out young voters.

Republican Ron Paul has a young, Internet-savvy base. His following on the Facebook Web site is adoring and he recently set a record for raising $4.2 million in funds in one 24-hour period, much of it small donations from young people via the Internet.

But for the most part, young voters tilt Democratic. The 18-to-24 age group comprises the strongest support base for the Democratic ticket of all age groups in recent elections - 56 percent for John Kerry in 2004, according to an analysis by the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning & Engagement at the University of Maryland.

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http://www.mcclatchydc.com/226/story/21575.html

[AngryAmish]

1. no -- they never do

[RB TexLa]

3. And yet whoever gets the Democratic nomination will once again waste money on them

[AngryAmish]

5. I know

Depressing, isn't it?

[AndyTiedye]

2. dup

[AndyTiedye]

4. A Lot Of 18-24s Were TRYING to Vote