Ba-Rock the Vote – Youth of America Propel Obama to Victory

With the historic election of Barack Obama, we are reminded of the words of Margaret Mead:

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.

The only thing indeed.

Young Americans Propel Obama in Battleground States
As pundits analyze the election of the first African-American to the highest office in our country, the raw data has become abundantly clear. The youth of America not only decided to get involved, they finally took it upon themselves to make a difference.

The massive turnout of voters age 18-29 served as the catalyst for the junior senator from Illinois, particularly in the battleground states of Indiana, Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Colorado. In fact, pundits have gone so far as to note that without the youth of America speaking, the 2008 presidential race would have been so close we still might be awaiting the final verdict.

According to exit polling data, young American’s supported the Obama/Biden ticket by a 66% to 32% over that of John McCain and Sarah Palin. That percentage represented the largest share of the youth vote since exit polling data began being recorded by age in 1976.

In the college towns of the battleground states already mentioned, there was an increase of up to 92% in youth voter turnout as compared to 2004. In an astonishing development, the 18-29 year-old voter block represented 18% of the electorate while those identified as 65 and older, the single largest voting group in past elections, made up only 16%.

Estimates indicate the youth voter increase for 2008 over that of 2004 was in the vicinity of 2.2 million voters. Some specific data that was released included:

• Indiana University Bloomington, Precinct 01 – at least a 287% increase over 2004.

• University of South Florida, Precinct 353 – 66% increase over 2004.

• The Ohio State University, Precinct 39B – at least a 92% increase over 2004.

• Colorado University Boulder, Precinct 102 – at least a 45% increase over 2004.

Some of the noted keys for the voter growth in this segment were the distaste among young people for partisan politics. As a group, the youth voters want to see issues and solutions less based on politics and more on what is best for the country.

No Longer Get Out the Vote
Pundits also indicated that netgeneration students, consistent with their social technology skills, did not so much as “get out the vote” as they “texted out the vote.” That was consistent with an Obama campaign that used text-messaging to announce Joe Biden as vice president and served to thank supporters prior to delivering his victory speech Tuesday night.

In that address Tuesday night, the president-elect formally addressed the young people who had given him such support, thanking them for rejecting ‘the myth of their generation’s apathy.’ In recognizing the youth voter block, Obama was acknowledging that young voters had once and for all been the key group in electing a president.

Others, like John Della Volpe, the polling director of the Institute of Politics at Harvard University agreed:

“The youth vote has fulfilled its promise.”

Flickr photo courtesy of radiospike.