Ivy League Conservatives

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Obama’s on the cover of Rolling Stone again, discussing the youth vote and what’s on his iPod, among other things. What’s also mentioned in NewsBusters’ coverage of the piece is how Obama’s pandering to the youth vote poses a bit of a problem, since he now must also cater to the rest of the United States and convince them that he’s their nominee, too. 

I think Obama’s barking up the wrong tree with the youth vote. Here’s why. College kids are so eager, so completely ready to believe in something and fight for it, that they’re great to have on your side during the campaign trail.

But how many of those same students will actually show up and vote when it really counts? Especially–and this should not be underestimated by alums–if it’s a hassle to do so.

It’s easy for you to implore that I give our students some credit. Most U.S. adults can be relied upon to mark their calendars, to make plans to vote. In labor laws nationwide, we are expressly forbidden from not being excused from work to vote. I graduated two years ago and can generally be relied upon to remember most important dates. 

But in college? It’s hard enough to find the energy to wake up for class, and that’s mandatory. Voting’s optional, and there’s no immediate penalty for inaction. There’s typically voting booths right on campus, but even convenience doesn’t guarantee action. If there’s a line at the polling booth? Forget it, I’ll go after class/work/a nap/lunch. If there’s still a line? I’ll go right before it closes.

I’ll make a stunning confession: I didn’t vote in 2004, the first presidential election in which I could vote. I told myself I’d go after class, which ended shortly before the polls closed, there was still a huge line, and I went to the dining hall instead. And I wasn’t alone. Sure, we attended College Republican get-out-the-vote functions and rallies, and gladly. But those were a couple of times a week, regular events you could miss or attend depending on your schedule. To ask most college students–naturally, there are some that were more organized and focused at 18 than I am now at 24, and they don’t count in this generalization–to attend a voluntary function between business hours on a certain day when there are far more fun things to do is wishful thinking at best.

Some students were just apathetic in 2004. Didn’t care about politics, didn’t want to care. They came to rallies for the free food. Others weren’t sure their vote mattered. Like me. What’s one Republican vote going to do in California? I had grand visions of registering in Pennsylvania, and even took a form home to do it, but my homesick mind never wanted to officially say that I was a resident in Pennsylvania. 

I don’t want to pretend that I can speak for all college students nationwide, but I also don’t want to pretend that my case was the only one. The blase attitude that is so rampant within universities today–even illustrious ones like my dear alma mater–makes Obama’s focus on young voters a particularly dangerous one to his campaign. I hope he sticks to it. 

This isn’t to say that I think candidates should ignore college students either, because there’s definitely a feeling in college-age youth that the government isn’t really their representative. However, for students of that uncertain age just on the opposite side of the threshold from adulthood, what elder really represents their interests anyway? Candidates should certainly speak at universities, engage youth as much as possible. It’s time to change the perception of politics as an old man’s sport.

Obama seems pretty sure of his hand. But I don’t know if I’d bet my political success on having the whole student body vote for me.