Fact Check: Youth Voters and Cognitive Assonance

There has been a recent bit of contentious dialogue concerning youth in the modern political process. A recent example can be found in the comments of irishwitch’s recent diary entry(to her credit, she has differentiated conservative fundamentalist youth from the rest of the pack).

For example:

kids today, in general are selfish and lazy beyond belief.

And such gems as:

Our kids are raised to be hyperindividualized, alienated, shallow, ADD, and materialistic...Try getting a bunch of scene-sters to spend a little less time studying fashion trends, The Latest Hot Band, their favorite drug, What's On TV Now, and their myspace page and you'll know what a losing battle feels like. That stuff evolves faster than you can learn about it, let alone unplug it.

While eugene has chimed in with an excellent diary of his own, I'm still left with the impression there are lingering misconceptions regarding the attitude and political stance of today's youth. I will attempt to address these issues below the fold.

The data have come in from the November 7th elections, the Youth vote was pivotal to the victory of Democratic candidates around the nation. Youth voted an astounding 60-38 for Democrats over Republicans, a 22 point margin.

That's all fine and dandy CP, you may say, but isn't that huge margin meaningless if youth aren't coming out and voting in substantial numbers?
Hmm, yes, if that were true.

FACT: Youth turnout was the highest in 20 years for a midterm election.

But CP, the youth vote didn't help us in 2004, you may say.

FACT: Well, actually the youth vote increased in 2004 and was the only age group that Kerry actually won. So it's pretty pointless to blame youth voters when they were, in fact, the most "enlightened" age group. Where was your generation, if I may ask? (That was a total snark, btw)

Okay, okay, nationwide the youth may have voted Democratic, but I'm more concerned with the fundamentalist Confederate-flag waving Southern Youth! Aren't they suppose to watch FOX News over everything else like 95-5 or something?

FACT: Wrong, according to CNN exit polls Democrats won the Southern Youth (House) vote 51-48. Now, that may not be as good as the rest of the nation, but it was the only age group that Democrats won in the South (in the House vote). And it's a pretty far cry from 95-5 or any such ridiculous notion.

I believe getting all of these facts out is important, because many people who post on this site (and elsewhere) have a habit of leveling a demographic and creating stereotypes that aren't even accurate in general. First, youth is characterized as a moribund, regressive force in Americans politics, when the exact opposite is true. Then, when someone points this out, the debate shifts to Southern youth, but that stereotype isn't right either! In fact, you'd be more factually correct demonizing seniors or middle-aged workers or rural Pennsylvanian farmers.

This, after all of the posts all over the blogosphere trumpeting the new blue generation, disappoints me. I think the perception of youth is incredibly important on communities like these, especially ones where major policy decisions like the draft are being discussed, and especially when these very communities hold the key to engaging more young voters and getting them out to vote. The YDA has found that when young voters are actively engaged, turnout will increase substancially.

Some other statistics provided by the Young Democrats of America:

    *Young people are giving a 20 point advantage to Democrats when asked who they will vote for in November 2006 (56% will vote for Dems, 36% will vote for Repubs).

   * Young people are trending more Democratic for the first time in several years and are more Democratic than the overall electorate. Polls released by Young Voter Strategies show young adults give Democrats a 10 point advantage when asked with which party they identify. Young people are 41% Democrat, 31% Republican and 27% Independent (overall electorate, 38% Democrats, 34% Republican, 27% Independent).

   * Young adults in 2006 are far more likely to identify more Democratic than two years ago, when the age group polled about evenly Republican, Democratic, and Independent.

   * If someone votes for a Party three times in a row, they are likely to be a Party voter for life, indicating a need for the Democratic Party to invest and focus on young people.

   * The mere size of Generation X + Y is a critical mass that needs focus. Gen X + Gen Y, 18-35 year olds = 70 million potential voters.

   * Contrary to early media reports, the 2004 election cycle marked the highest turnout of young people since 1972.

   * Nearly half of all eligible young voters cast ballots in the November 2004 election, raising their turnout rate by more than twice that of any other age group resulting in an increase of 9 percentage points and an increase of 4.3 million voters.

   * 18-30 year olds were the ONLY age group to prefer the Kerry/Edwards ticket (Kerry received 54% and Bush received 44%). This is a significant gain for Democrats. In 2000, Gore only received 47.6% to Bush’s 46.2% of the youth vote.

   * Before the November elections, 70% of young people said they received NO contact from a party or candidate. Post-election, this shrunk to below 40% indicating the intense focus on young people by political groups.

   * 64.4% of young people voted in the 10 most competitive battleground states. Only 48% of young people voted across all other states, proving young voters come out in higher numbers if targeted.

   * The vast majority of young people are not in college. In fact only 25-35% of 18-35 year olds are in college. It is critical young voter outreach programs are as diverse as the generation and do not only reside on college campuses.

   * Generation Y is politically active and volunteer at record numbers. 83% of college freshmen volunteer and 73% of 18-30 year olds plan on voting in 2006.

   * Young people are swimming in debt. Unemployment rates for young people are two to three times higher than that of adults. Additionally, a male in 1972 with a high school degree was earning $42,000 annually and now is only earning $29,000.

  * Young people like any other demographic wants to listen to their peers and wants to be involved. Unfortunately, there is still a culture in campaigns that young people don’t vote and are too hard to find so we get knocked off voting lists that campaigns use to talk to potential voters. This is often called the "cycle of mutual neglect."

(emphasis mine)

It's time to stop scapegoating youth, they're firmly on our side. It's time to stop the stereotypes of teen apathy, when teens are asked to vote, they vote. It's time to stop mischaracterizing teen apathy, teens volunteer and they're voting in record numbers.

Most of all, it's time to stop the rampant overgeneralization that's affected youth, Southerners, and others recently.