By Joshua B. Dermer and Patrick Quinlan
With a final win of 365 Electoral College votes, Democrat Barack Obama was declared President-Elect at 11 p.m. on November 4. Exit polls suggest that the key to Obama’s win was an outpouring of support from young voters, who constituted the margin of victory in Florida and six other states lost by Kerry and Gore. The youth vote came out for Obama in numbers not seen since 1972, when the voting age was lowered at the height of the Vietnam War.
“In his speeches, he was able to capture the youth in a way that Kerry couldn’t,” said Carlo Fassi, senior. Kerry won voters aged 18-29 by 10 points in 2004, but they broke decisively for Obama in 2008: 66% of young voters supported the Democratic nominee, compared to only 32% for Arizona Senator John McCain.
Obama’s relative youth helped him connect with a new generation voters who came of age during the Bush presidency. “I noticed that kids were more connected with him than with McCain because he was younger,” said Piero Caceres, sophomore. In a national election that ften centered on Obama’s age and race, he found a way to turn the concerns of some older voters into rallying points for young people and minorities.
“For the first African- American to get this far, I think the youth wants to be part of something like that. This is a different generation,” said Fassi. “If I asked my Italian grandfather who moved here in the early 1920s if a black man had ever considered running, no one would have ever thought of it, and I think our generation is completely 100% on board.”
“I’m a person of color, so of course it was a very, very emotional time,” said Chris Mayorga, senior. “My whole family was very excited about it. We believe in his policies.”
The Democrats were also able to mobilize young voters with an elaborate network of text messages and social networking websites. In Miami’s Bicentennial Park, 30,000 people came to see Jay-Z perform in support of Obama, after word of the concert spread by text message and over the Internet. Voter registration drives were held th ughout the concert grounds.
“Obama is the first candidate to use technology to reach out to voters, and I think that that is a great idea,” said Jason Albert, freshman. “We are the next generation, and technology is a very important way of communication.”
The Democratic victory has young conservatives wondering whether 2008 is a signal of a long liberal trend, or whether Republicans can replicate the bama youth outreach tactics in 2012 and beyond.
“The Republicans have the right policies but they failed in their campaigning,” said Sean Burstyn, senior. “They failed to communicate and level with the youth. The Republicans will absolutely be able to regain the White House, but they need a total party makeover.”
Part of the answer will depend on how Obama delivers on the issues that matter to young voters. “He said he would give you $4,000 for college if you did some sort of community service so he should stick with that,” said Caceres, “because some of us do need the money, and it’s not easy to pay it back
“He knows and understands that he owes his campaign promises,” said Fassi. “He knows that without the youth or without the enthusiasm of all the 18- year-olds from his rallies, he knows that he wouldn’t be where he is right now.”
Burstyn was skeptical that Obama would be able to stick to his ambitious agenda in the midst of the current economic crisis and international turmoil. “We haven’t been around long enough to think of times when war was necessary,” he said. “Obama will have a very difficult time keeping up on his promises.”
Some Obama supporters expressed their hopes in the sweeping language favored by their candidate. “He’ll change our world and make it better,” said Nicole Campbell, sophomore.
However, others were more tempered and tentative in their expectations. “I think that there are some people who are going to want him to fulfill every campaign promise, with such high expectations, which I believe is not very possible,” said Albert. “Some will be disappointed because he set the bar pretty gh, but I think that he will meet his goals.”
According to Fassi, Obama will have to build coalitions outside of his core supporters. “He needs to figure out a way to make his decisions help the 18 to 25- year-olds, but still help small businesses, still help veterans,” he said. “He needs to make sure that his policies are helpful to everybody.”
