Reply #95: You are spot on. [View All]

[emmadoggy]

Your whole first paragraph just described me exactly when I was in that 18-24 bracket. I had no idea what my political views were at that age - I hadn't "lived" enough to have firm opinions one way or the other. I grew up with a Dem mom and a Repub dad and they weren't terribly political. I went to two different colleges (one in Iowa, one in MN) and then 2 months before I was eligible for my first presidential election (Bush/Dukakis) I got married and moved to a whole new state/town (WI). I had never voted before, didn't know where to go, what to do, if I could still register or not and from what little I had seen of and knew of the candidates, I didn't particularly care for either (if I had actually gone and voted, I believe I was leaning towards Dukakis). I knew that I SHOULD vote and felt bad that I didn't, but I just didn't feel "prepared" enough. Since then I have voted in every Presidential election (Dem every time). I did miss some of the midterms, but have gotten better with those as I've gotten older too.

We can't give up on that age group. We may not get them to vote Dem right away, but we still need to speak to them and educate them, and cultivate political interest and activism in them. They need time to live as adults in society and to figure out who they are. Time to learn what it means to be Dem and what it means to be Rebub. (Heck, I daresay there are a lot of people who think/say they are Dem or Repub, but have no idea what that really means - I have two siblings like that). If we discount them and give up on them, they will either go the other way or continue to be apolitical for years. In my opinion, the registration and voting process needs to be much more uniform & simple too, or at the very least more information needs to be put out informing residents of in all areas of how it works where they live. I do so wish that we could have one national system of voting (an NO, NOT the machines!!) because I think many people don't want the hassle of trying to figure out where to go, what to do, how to get registered, the deadline for registering, or some new voting method each time they move (sometimes even if they only move a few blocks). The system is way too complicated.