In the months leading up to the 2010 midterm elections, we heard many times over what is at stake for the country. An endless number of politicians told us through e-mail, Facebook and cheesy TV ads that this election was a referendum on our future.
The question college students should have been asking, however, was not whether our candidates of choice were actually talking about the future, but rather, whose future were they talking about? In an election dominated by media stories of witches, tea partiers and rallies for honor, sanity and fear, where do the college students of America fit in? What was in it for us?
Though this election was seen by pundits as a referendum on the Obama presidency, it was actually more about how our generation was ignored. Neither party bothered to talk about the issues that really impact young people — issues like reducing the cost of college or creating programs to increase the number of entry-level jobs.
In 2008, voters in our age bracket — 18-to-29 years old – comprised 18 percent of the entire electorate and over half of our bracket, 52 percent, voted. To understand just how impressive the 2008 election was for youth involvement, this is a significant increase from previous presidential elections. The youth turnout rate in 2000 was 36 percent and 47 percent in 2004. Our increased turnout and general involvement in the 2008 election made the political issues that affect us part of the national dialogue.
In March of this year, President Barack Obama signed a law increasing the availability and amount of loans and Pell grants allotted for college students, which acknowledged that he stood with America’s students. Though the president was vocal about his support for education reform in his campaign, it is not a stretch to think that our unusually high level of involvement during the 2008 campaign kept this issue on his radar and influenced the administration to do something to make it easier for our generation to pay for college.
This election was a chance to build on the most successful election for young people in recent memory, but instead, the opposite happened. Exit polls from the 2010 elections showed that people in our age bracket comprised about 9 percent of the electorate and just over 20 percent of people our age turned out to vote at all, a rate that was 3 percent lower than it was for the 2006 midterm elections. While this decrease was small, it is still disappointing after such a resounding youth turnout to the 2008 presidential election.
If the tea party has taught us anything in this election, it is that a major way to be noticed is to be the group talking the loudest and the most often. Regardless of what you may think of the tea party’s policies, the ability to constantly speak with a consistent voice increased its relevancy and in many ways shaped the narrative surrounding this election. If we want politicians to take student issues seriously, then it is time to speak up. If we are serious about cutting down the cost of college and making sure there are jobs waiting for us after we graduate, then it is time for our generation to step up and speak out.
Sad as it may be, campaign 2012 is already just six or so months away. I beg and implore each of you: Get involved. Make sure we are heard. Our future and our legitimacy as a group that the country must listen to depend on it.
The writer, a senior majoring in political science, is a Hatchet columnist.
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