The 2008 presidential election has made one thing obvious: America’s demographics have changed. After almost two-and-a-half centuries, the United States has seen its first female and minority presidential hopefuls beat out their white male competitors in votes, delegates, media coverage, and financial support. And for the first time in history, the charge for change has been led by Americans under the age of 30.

Since the commencement of George W. Bush’s “War in Iraq,” youth civic engagement has surged in parallel with the surge in troop deployment to the Middle East:

• In the 2000 presidential election, 4.3 million young voters – those between the ages of 18 and 29 – made their way to the polls to “rock the vote.”
• In 2004 – the last presidential election year – 20.1 million young voters exercised their civic duty, almost quadrupling their turnout from the previous presidential election. In fact, for the first time, more people in this demographic voted in 2004 than those over the age of 65.
• In 2006 – the last congressional election year – youth voter turnout increased by 2 million votes, almost twice that of the overall electorate.

Said to be motivated by distrust of current institutional representation and growing disgust with transgressions against Constitutional law, human rights, and general ethics reportedly enacted by the Bush administration, more and more youth voters are demanding change in American government. Representing one-quarter of the national electorate, these young people have rallied around “change” candidates like Barack Obama and Mike Huckabee and have shown up at their state primaries and caucuses in record numbers to demonstrate their support.

Youth voters have made a tremendous impact on political discourse, influencing candidates from both parties to adjust their platform positions to reflect “a new course” and to edit their rhetoric to include elements of change. Karl Rove’s now infamous strategy of “staying on message” and Bush’s familiar mantra to “stay the course” have been discarded by the majority of candidates in order to distance themselves from the problems that have emerged from the Bush’s dogged pursuit of the war path.

What does this mean for 2008? With this emerging group of young people, dubbed the “Millenial” generation, as the new face of American politics, it means that we must be prepared for more “change” to shape politics in the near future. Youth voters have made it clear that they are unhappy with the status quo and are now backing their complaints with civic engagement at the polls. As each year passes, youth voters’ strength will only grow in step with their numbers.

However, the short attention spans of young voters raised on MTV and Ritalin may also mean that the unprecedented length of this extended campaign season will see their interest and influence fade by the time the Republican and Democratic nominations roll around in August. If the U.S. economy and funding/support for education, universal healthcare, and the environment – issues all dear to youth voters – continue to tank, though, the Millenials may just break another voter-turnout record in November and determine the new leader of the free world for the next four years. Let’s hope it will be a vote of “change” for the better.

If you are a young person who’d like to “Rock the Vote” for change this year, please contact Grace Rodriguez with Helping Our Youth (HOYna!) at grace@hoyna.org.

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