As Election Day rapidly approaches, all eyes are turning on Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain. Questions are starting to be asked: Who are the vice-presidential nominees going to be? Are the two candidates really going to make America better? What, if any, demographic is going to be the difference-maker?
The youth vote could easily be the difference-maker in November. All across America students on college campuses have become mobilized for their favorite candidate. Both national political parties have been using very different strategies to get the youth vote.
Many students are aware of the Obama and McCain Web sites, Facebook and MySpace pages and Youtube.com videos. Obama has really taken the charge with courting the youth vote through the Internet. By using the sites mentioned above, the Obama campaign has made it relatively easy for young people to get involved with his campaign. With these network sites, “grass root” movements have been popping up all across the country for Obama.
A former campaign manager for the Louisiana Democratic party, Steven Wright, attributes this success to “mobilizing [the Democratic Party’s] pre-existing youth organizations such as College Democrats and Young Democrats of America.” Wright also thinks the mobilization of young people for the 2006 interim election and the special elections in the past two years have helped young people see the results of their hard work through campaign contributions and victories in close races.
The Democratic Party has also had a great deal of growth in youth delegates. Wright attributes the growth to the Democratic National Convention Youth Council.
“Increasing the delegates under the age of 36 has been a priority goal of that Council, and it seems to be working,” he said.
The Democratic Party has also had success with younger candidates and staffers because it seems they have opened the door more for them. The party has recruited candidates from YDA, College Dems and many other youth sects of the party by offering candidate training and extensive candidate information.
“Party officials in leadership positions are younger than ever as well, which puts the party’s direction and recruiting more in tune with the next generation of [voters],” Wright said.
He said he hopes that by hiring more young people in the field and offering them decent wages the party will be able to win close races like the U.S. Senate race here in Louisiana between Democrat Mary Landrieu and Republican John Kennedy.
With all the hype around Obama, it is easy to forget who is on the other side of the issues: McCain.
Unlike the Democrats, the Republican Party does not have a system set up to bring representatives from Young Republicans of America and College Republicans to a delegate position at the national convention. There are no delegate positions for the convention reserved for young Republicans. Instead the National Republican Party uses representatives from these organizations as an advisory board to help with getting the word out to young people about Republican candidates. There are also plenty of volunteer and internships available at the National Convention where young people can gain valuable information and experience inside the party.
Unfortunately the Republican Party has more of a “you come to us” approach. Instead of trying to go out and recruit young people to work on campaigns, the party seems to just let young people who want to help come to them.
Although individuals really have to put themselves out there to get involved with a campaign, they are usually taken care of afterwards and have the opportunity to rise in the party.
James Pfeiffer, a 20-year-old member of the Orleans Parish Republican Executive Committee, said that young Republicans have many opportunities within the party. There are several educational programs for young Republicans to get involved with such as the Campaign Management College and the News Media College. These programs really help educate young people on the ins and outs of campaigns, according to Pfeiffer.
Although the Republican Party is behind in winning over young Americans, there is hope yet. If the party can begin portraying conservative values in a way young people can relate to, then the party might be able to win over some of these people.
Jason Mattera, a spokesman for the Young America’s Foundation, told CNN in an interview July 24 that if young people are suspicious of the U.S. government telling them what Internet sites they can view, they should be equally suspicious of the federal government telling them what health care plan they are going to have.
Through a push to get young conservatives fired up about the values they believe in, and through relating more conservative principles to young people, the Republican Party can make strides to catch up with the Democratic Party lead for young votes.
—-Contact Matthew Gravens at [email protected]