2008 Woodie Awards
So many voters, so little votes
By: Sean Lutzmann
Issue date: 3/12/08 Section: Forum
A few surprising (and not so surprising) events were in store for us over Spring Break, other than the 2 feet of snow in Cincinnati and similar amounts all over Ohio, that is.
Political enthusiasts (I refuse to use the term "junkies") nationwide had their eyes glued to their television sets to find out whether the primary elections would finally be decided by delegate-rich Ohio and Texas on the day some news networks had called "Super Tuesday II" or "Junior Tuesday."
The ensuing victories for Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primaries and John McCain's triumph, saw McCain's candidacy at long last cross the finish line to become the GOP's nominee (which really wasn't so much of a surprise in light of his overwhelming delegate lead over his opponent Mike Huckabee). We also saw the once-thought-to-be-doomed Clinton campaign's astounding comeback, thanks to the help of older voters in Ohio, Texas and of course the great state of Rhode Island.
As expected, Ohio saw a record turnout as voters came out strong for the Democratic primary, with young people in particular seeing a spike in voting activity. According to exit polling data as reported by the Pew Charitable Trusts, almost half a million young people (479,418) ages 17-29 took the time to participate in either party's primary race in Ohio.
More than 348,000 of them made up about 16 percent of all the Democrats who voted (up from just 9 percent of the overall primary vote in 2004). The remaining 130,571 made up 13 percent of the Republican vote, about the same percentage of which turned out for the last presidential primary in 2000, though a decrease in net votes overall of about 51,108.
Without a doubt, improvement has been made in voter participation amongst the younger generation, but when all was said and done, just 25 percent of all eligible young people turned out to vote (while an estimated 40 percent of those older than 30 did), and while it is still 10 percent higher than in 2000, it also still means that 75 percent of us did not even bother.
Some of that can be contributed to the really bad weather, the obvious reason of spring break, missed deadlines for registration and even the fact that there are probably a lot of informed citizens out there who wish to remain registered Independents, being affiliated with no party at all, as it so often appears to them that neither of the two major ones represent their views. You're definitely not alone, as according to RasmussenReports.com, a little over a quarter of the electorate remains unaffiliated.
The problem with this, however, is by leaving the parties to the traditional base that always turns out to vote in primary elections, you allow the gap between you and the party platform on the issues to widen.
So the next time you get a chance to influence in which direction one of the major political Parties in this country goes, vote early and let your voice be heard.
Political enthusiasts (I refuse to use the term "junkies") nationwide had their eyes glued to their television sets to find out whether the primary elections would finally be decided by delegate-rich Ohio and Texas on the day some news networks had called "Super Tuesday II" or "Junior Tuesday."
The ensuing victories for Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primaries and John McCain's triumph, saw McCain's candidacy at long last cross the finish line to become the GOP's nominee (which really wasn't so much of a surprise in light of his overwhelming delegate lead over his opponent Mike Huckabee). We also saw the once-thought-to-be-doomed Clinton campaign's astounding comeback, thanks to the help of older voters in Ohio, Texas and of course the great state of Rhode Island.
As expected, Ohio saw a record turnout as voters came out strong for the Democratic primary, with young people in particular seeing a spike in voting activity. According to exit polling data as reported by the Pew Charitable Trusts, almost half a million young people (479,418) ages 17-29 took the time to participate in either party's primary race in Ohio.
More than 348,000 of them made up about 16 percent of all the Democrats who voted (up from just 9 percent of the overall primary vote in 2004). The remaining 130,571 made up 13 percent of the Republican vote, about the same percentage of which turned out for the last presidential primary in 2000, though a decrease in net votes overall of about 51,108.
Without a doubt, improvement has been made in voter participation amongst the younger generation, but when all was said and done, just 25 percent of all eligible young people turned out to vote (while an estimated 40 percent of those older than 30 did), and while it is still 10 percent higher than in 2000, it also still means that 75 percent of us did not even bother.
Some of that can be contributed to the really bad weather, the obvious reason of spring break, missed deadlines for registration and even the fact that there are probably a lot of informed citizens out there who wish to remain registered Independents, being affiliated with no party at all, as it so often appears to them that neither of the two major ones represent their views. You're definitely not alone, as according to RasmussenReports.com, a little over a quarter of the electorate remains unaffiliated.
The problem with this, however, is by leaving the parties to the traditional base that always turns out to vote in primary elections, you allow the gap between you and the party platform on the issues to widen.
So the next time you get a chance to influence in which direction one of the major political Parties in this country goes, vote early and let your voice be heard.
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