By Angélique Primault
The George Washington University hosted a youth vote forum Monday to assess the potential impact of young voters in this year's election. Co-hosted by CBS News, Youth Vote '08 presented the results of a poll in which college students preferred Sen. Barack Obama to Sen. John McCain, two to one.
CBS national correspondent Dan Raviv moderated the discussion, which focused on young voters' opinions and the impact they might have on the upcoming presidential election.
The forum featured speakers from the Chronicle of Higher Education, Rock the Vote, and GWU's School of Media and Public Affairs. Participants epitomized the enthusiasm of young people for the election and specifically--for Obama.
Heather Smith, Rock the Vote's executive director, discussed the desire of students for candidate attention to their concerns. Survey results revealed that students felt that Obama cared more about them than McCain.
The intensity of enthusiasm for candidates is as important in politics as the issues, said Steve Roberts, a GWU professor. Sixty-eight percent of the Democrats are very enthusiastic about their candidate, compared to only 38% of Republicans
CBS News, the Chronicle for Higher Education and UWire, a university news wire service, and surveyed nearly 25,000 students at universities in North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Colorado. The survey showed that a majority of Democrat students "really liked" or "kinda liked" Sen. Joe Biden, while a majority of Republican students did not approve of Gov. Sarah Palin.
Sarah Hebel, who works at the Chronicle of Higher Education, commented on the difference in age between the two candidates (Obama, 47, McCain, 72) as an explanation for the massive difference in youth support.
Roberts said McCain was from the generation of young voters' grandparents.
Youth vote forum held at GWU
Surveyed college voters said that they wanted change and that they were
interested in issues that directly affected their lives like the
state of the economy, the ease of finding a job, college loans and healthcare coverage.
More than half of those polled said that Obama could bring change, while only 25% said that McCain could.
Young voters have a great hope for the future, Smith said. They can bring about necessary change.
Young voters want to be engaged in the campaign and appreciate the interaction that social networks like Facebook and YouTube provide, Smith said. They may get information from television, but they also get information shared by their family and friends, or by strangers on blogs.
Roberts said that the Internet fostered communities through use of e-mail and web sites such as Facebook and Youtube. He also said that the Internet has had a great impact this election because it created a "horizontal system of information," in which people get information from each other just as much as from a primary source.
The panelists also discussed the problems with young voter registration. Students who do not go to school in their home state have had trouble registering at school.
More than half of those polled said that Obama could bring change, while only 25% said that McCain could.
Young voters have a great hope for the future, Smith said. They can bring about necessary change.
Young voters want to be engaged in the campaign and appreciate the interaction that social networks like Facebook and YouTube provide, Smith said. They may get information from television, but they also get information shared by their family and friends, or by strangers on blogs.
Roberts said that the Internet fostered communities through use of e-mail and web sites such as Facebook and Youtube. He also said that the Internet has had a great impact this election because it created a "horizontal system of information," in which people get information from each other just as much as from a primary source.
The panelists also discussed the problems with young voter registration. Students who do not go to school in their home state have had trouble registering at school.
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