We young voters don’t get a lot of respect. 
“Young voters are lazy,” we are told. Try telling that to a student during finals week.
“Young people don’t know how the real world works,” they sneer. With grade-school students more tech savvy than parents these days, there is reason to doubt this too. 
“College students are radical liberals that have been brainwashed by their even more radically liberal professors,” Rush Limbaugh says almost daily. I know a few University students who would take offense to that – Colorado Robertson, perhaps?
College students frustrate the hell out of advertisers who are constantly trying to figure out how to sell us products. “What’s so great about Chuck Norris?” they must ask themselves.
The truth is, I don’t know why Chuck Norris is cool either. But I like him anyway. 
Sure, we make weird decisions – and yes, Mom and Dad, even stupid ones occasionally. We party on weeknights and cram the night before tests – and some of us take Adderall to stay awake. 
It’s not a surprise, then, that many think of young voters as an unreliable and even irrelevant bunch – how can we be expected to vote when we won’t go to class if it rains?
But since the 2004 presidential election, there is evidence that young voters are becoming more involved. In fact, young voters are quickly becoming an important and influential voting bloc. 
Fifty-eight percent of young voters were more interested in politics in 2004 than they were in 2000 – an increase of 13 points, according to a July 8, 2004, Pew Research report.
Additionally, 53 percent of registered voters age 18-29 said they had “thought a lot about the election,” an 18 point increase from 2000. 
Howard Dean’s campaign for the Democratic nomination is largely thought to have pioneered the effective Internet fundraising model used by many politicians today. Dean enjoyed an early front-runner status in the Democratic primaries – largely because of enthusiastic grassroots support from young voters. 
In fact, young voters were the age group that gave the eventual 2004 Democratic nominee, Sen. John Kerry, his largest margin of support in the general election. 
These trends are continuing in 2008. Young voter turnout is increasing more than it is among any other age group, according to a February 2008 Pew Research report. Across the board, states have been experiencing historic turnout among young voters, and, in many of these states, young voters have provided crucial support for Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill. 
Despite these improvements, though, young voters still aren’t getting enough respect.
No one seemed to care when Gov. Ed Rendell – a prominent supporter of Sen. Hillary Clinton – said Obama-supporting college students are “drinking the Kool-Aid.”
Yet when Obama claimed economically-strained and ignored rural voters were “bitter,” a national controversy ensued. 
The Democratic primary’s design is one that neglects young voters, too. Of the powerful and all-knowing group of 800 superdelegates that will almost certainly decide the eventual nominee, only two represent the College Democrats of America. 
We are not perfect.
Yes, many of us are lazy
Yes, many of us are naive.
Yes, the Democratic Party enjoys the support of a majority of young voters. 
But unfortunately, these general assumptions go unchecked. While I may not have a problem being labeled a “liberal,” I know there are students on every college campus who aren’t.
And while I don’t mean to preach, we do have an opportunity every four years to make a major decision for our country. It’s a unique opportunity, and – while there is no need to become a pundit – actually knowing a little about who you are casting a ballot for can’t hurt.
But we shouldn’t stop there. Smaller races happen all the time – in fact, two congressional elections took place Saturday. These local elections are just as important. 
To those of you who are graduating soon, remember – you’re still considered young voters. Please, represent us well in the “real world.”
—-Contact Nate Monroe at [email protected].