(MintPress) — In the 2008 presidential election, 46 million youth voters, aged 18-29, were eligible to vote and 84 percent of them did. As a group, young voters make a big difference in the polls – just ask former Republican presidential hopeful John McCain, who received 28 percent of the youth vote in 2008 compared to the 48 percent of youth who supported now-President Barack Obama.
From taxes to health care to immigration policies, politicians drill into voters’ minds that what happens today in Washington D.C. has a direct impact on the future of the United States. But when candidates focus their campaign strategy mainly toward voters over the age of 30, they neglect the power and importance of the youth vote.
According to Rock the Vote, an organization that encourages young people to become politically active by — at minimum — casting a vote in an election, current young voters are the largest generation in history and represent more than one-fifth of the electorate.
But it’s not just at the polls where American youth are actively making a difference in the political sphere — young people are also active at major political events like the Republican National Convention.
Take 17-year-old Evan Draim from Mount Vernon, Va. for example. The high school senior is the youngest of the some 2,000 delegates attending the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla. this week. Though he has not been eligible to vote in any past election due to his age, Draim will turn 18 just in time to vote in the election this fall.
“The reason I ran [for delegate] in the first place was to represent young Americans. I’m happy to be going down to Tampa and bringing voice to what I consider an underrepresented group, which is American students,” Draim told the Washington Post.
Legally able to participate in the political process for the first time, Draim competed and campaigned against six other people to win one of three delegate spots for his district, including Arlington County Republican Committee Chairman Charles Hokanson.
“I view [my job as a delegate] as my responsibility to give back to the country that has given [my ancestors] so much, and I want to make sure the American dream that helped [them] is there for future generations of immigrants and graduating students,” Draim added.
While Draim has been able to get more involved politically than most of his peers, his commitment to and understanding of the issues is not uncommon amongst young voters. A study from Civic Youth found the economy is the most important issue to youth voters followed by health care, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and illegal immigration.
Economically conservative, the dominantly college educated, white, Christian youth vote is very concerned about the budget deficit and would rather slash the budget than increase spending to create jobs. But unlike the some 39 million senior voters (60 and older), youth voters are optimistic about the future of the United States, and they blame Wall Street bankers for the financial crisis, not Obama.
With a reputation for voting in favor of democratic candidates, it’s no wonder Obama has taken an interest in the youth vote, especially since he first-handedly saw just how instrumental those votes can be in winning an election. According to a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll released last Thursday, Obama leads Romney 64 to 31 percent among voters younger than 35 nationally, compared to 55 to 42 percent over McCain back in 2008.
Even though the youth vote is powerful, not every politician goes after their votes. The youth vote is predominantly opposed to the tea party movement; in fact, Civic Youth reported more youth voters reported they voted against the tea party movement than in favor of it. This probably explains why democrats are so strongly opposed to voter ID laws.
“My hope is that (voter ID and other laws) backfire and that young people find out and are annoyed by it – and that it motivates them more to get out and vote,” said Tobin Van Ostern, policy manager for Campus Progress, a Washington-based group that works on voting rights and other issues relevant to students.
In 2008, 59 percent of new voters lived in a state that offered same-day election registration, as opposed to the 50 percent who voted in states that did not offer Election Day registration. With the elimination of absentee voting and the requirement of voter identification cards instead of student IDs, the same-day registration that has been so popular amongst young voters could drastically change the outcomes of future elections.