Dan Nied sees a record number of under-30 voters turning out Tuesday. Enough, possibly, to pick the president. Needless to say, the actions of his peers make him a proud 25-year old boy.
This presidential election may come down to the sloven and lazy. Look out for the vote of the leaders of tomorrow, the slackers of today.
Wait in the poll parking lot Tuesday and listen for the bass thumping three blocks away. Feel your jaw hit the ground as Eminem blasts, from the car speakers, the sweet sounds of a free America.
This is our right to choose. It is time we used it.
This election won’t come down to hanging chads this time, because we know how to vote. We know that you gotta get that sucker punched out really hard to make democracy work.
We are the young. We will be bringing you the president Tuesday.
Because of the importance of this election, the seeming disappearance of decent entry-level work and the back-of-your-mind feeling that there might be a draft by this time next year, voters between 18 and 30 have registered in record numbers this year.
Who young voters pick is important, but not the story here. The story is that a large turnout can be the exact edge George Bush or John Kerry needs to win this election.
You think you have a grasp on who will win? Well, you think you at least have some idea based on the polls? Well consider that, while most polls have Bush and Kerry in a statistical tie among the popular vote, those polls are conducted through listed telephone numbers, which are land lines. Many potential voters under 30 have given up on that primitive form of communication. Cell phones are the way to go. Cell phone numbers aren’t listed. Therefore the opinions of many young voters are not being reflected in the polls.
Take me for example. I am 25, and this would have been my second time voting (If there wasn’t an error in the delivery of my Michigan absentee ballot. The error being that I didn’t get it and they didn’t get my application, which was mailed four weeks ago. Funny how that works, eh). Well I have only an unlisted cell phone number. Every single under-30 person I know who lives on their own has no land line. None have been polled. None have voiced an opinion. A large majority will vote.
Assuming there are millions of others like us (and there are), that could spell doom for someone. Truth be told it is pretty hard to say who.
Common knowledge says that young voters will turn out big for Kerry. But recent polls have refuted that. However, as we know, polls may not be the best indication of the youth vote. Nevertheless, the latest figures have the under-30 vote going for Kerry by as much as 52-42 percent or as little as 49-47 percent.
Either way, this election matters enough to the future of this country that the people that are actually the future of this country will do their best to make the right decision in their vote.
That is a far cry from years past when marginal voter turnout made it easy to paint the youth of America into an apathetic bunch.
Well we are apathetic no more. Come Tuesday Youth will be served.
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