January 3, 2008

The Race Is On: Whom Are You Voting For?

Posted by Kristina Rizga at 12:29PM

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[UPDATE: The Washington Post blog reports that Obama campaign is crediting youth voter turnout for their victory in Iowa!

Senior Obama advisor David Axelrod said the most surprising thing was the turnout. "These were numbers you'd expect almost in a primary," he said. "The prodigious turnout was breathtaking, and it eclipsed anything I heard predicted. It's just fabulous to see people engaged in this way."

One crucial group, he said: young voters. "Younger voters participated in far greater numbers than ever before," said Axelrod as he studied the screen of his Blackberry, still appearing somewhat stunned at the returns.

And thanks to Mike Connery over at the Future Majority, we have some preliminary analysis of the youth vote in Iowa.

"It's still early, and there's lots of data crunching to be done, but here's how things are shaping up thus far based on on-air reporting from the major cable networks, here's what we know so far:

--CNN and MSNBC entrance polling analysis says that Obama won 57% of all 17-24 year olds. (video below)
--Fox News is reporting that 60% of all caucus goers were first-time caucusers, and 39% of those votes went for Obama.
--This is more tentative and I will update later in the night, but CNN reported that young people's turnout was 25%, which means they out performed their share of the population which is 22%.
--If the last is true, then young people had an 8% increase in turnout (from 17% share of the electorate in 2004, to 25% in 2008."

Wiretap's Ally Klimkoski is crunching numbers over in Iowa, and will send us more double-checked data as it becomes avialable.]

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All eyes are on Iowa today where registered party members are voting in Caucuses. Young people (18-29) represent 22.2% of the population in Iowa and could very well decide who will lead our country out of the mess we are in. If you are registered to vote in Iowa, young people all over the country are counting on you to represent!

Why does Iowa hold so much power? Because most people want to be on the side of the winner -- and Iowa gets first shot at defining the winner. Having the privilege to shout out your opinions first is powerful, but it's just the beginning of a long race.

In this election cycle, there are more than 41 million potential young voters, 13 percent of all voters.

In the last two elections, young voters voted in record highs. What can you do to make sure young people break records, again?

1) Register to vote. In many states you have to pre-register weeks or even a month in advance of Election Day. Find out when your state votes. (Need a reminder on what a Caucus and a Primary is? Read Wiretap's primer here.)

2) Tell your friends to register to vote. Forward to your friends this easy Rock the Vote registration form.

3) Get five friends to show up to the precincts and vote with you. Remember: 31 states allow pre-Election Day voting in person. Twenty-nine states allow no-excuse absentee voting by mail.

4) Amplify the youth voice and voting power, in every school, dorm and community. Join The League of Young Voters' Facebook application -- launched today -- in which you can vote in a poll for your favorite candidate and pick your burning issues.

Here's the deal: if a critical mass of young people uses this application to "virtually" vote on issues, it will force all candidates to talk about the issues that matter to young people throughout the year. Candidates read polls constantly and unfortunately, when it comes to youth polls, they still rely on erroneous data and biased analysis that says young people don't vote and don't care about political issues. As a result, they don't take 18- to 29-year olds seriously and don't talk about issues that matter to youth, like affordable education and healthcare, jobs for young people, and rise in youth-on-youth violence. Young people came out in record numbers in 2004 and 2006 and while youth advocates have been using their bullhorns for years, the mainstream media still says youth turnout is "kind of pathetic." The League launched this application to help increase the youth voice and excitement online and with that turnout on the ground. I think it's a great youth-driven, grassroots poll that can commmunicate to candidates directly and in real time what issues young people care about and it's a helpful new tool to get your friends engaged and excited about these elections.

Happy Election Year!