Why the young people are voting this time..

[SoCalDem]

Young people can get caught up in their own lives, and sometimes do not vote. There are a few things that MAKE them vote:

1. Life and death issues..as in THEIR lives and the lives of their friends.. I doubt that there are very many young people who do NOT know someone who went to Iraq, is going to Iraq, has a brother/cousin/sister/friend who is in, or might be sent there.

2. More and more young people have NOT moved out on their own. They are around to WATCH Mom & Dad agonize about the bills.. When Mom & Dad have no "extra" money, young people cannot borrow money from them to move out on their own. Young people want to be able to move out, but lots of them cannot.

3. Jobs.. The jobs front pretty much sucks these days for young people just starting out. The people in their 50's & 60's cannot afford to "retire", and are hanging onto their jobs for dear life. The entry-level jobs that young people counted on are scarce, if they can find them at all.

4. Young people see the BS, and are not afraid to call it what it is. They are less jaded. For a lot of them, this is the first time they feel like they can make a difference..

All we had to do was Ask them, and let them know that they mattered ..

Thanks, all you young'uns :)

[BOSSHOG]

1. Because they want to grow old

[Cleita]

2. Yes, talking to young people these past months makes me

feel good about them. The ones I have talked to are very much up on the issues and they want positive change for their futures.

[leftchick]

3. I absolutely agree with #4!!

along with the rest of course! :)

I have been thinking how they must see chimpy* and know a liar when they hear one. Thank God for our young!

[Mojambo]

4. WAR

It's as simple as that.

[aden_nak]

5. We're graduating college and getting the jobs we had in high school.

So yes, we're pissed.

[Zorra]

6. Seriously: Many young people have a visceral reaction to

Bu$h.

He is totally FOS and they sense it immediately.

Bu$h may have inadvertently destroyed the republican party by motivating these folks to vote.

[Robbien]

7. At my polling station it has usually been manned by seniors

Not this time. The youth was about one third of the people working there.

This time the young are paying attention.

[CitySky]

8. when I meet some caustic old coot Rethug,

I think of the young Dems I've met during this campaign season, some still too young to vote this time... and I feel good about the future of our democracy. Go teens! Go twenty-somethings! Heee-yaaaa! (That's my Gov. Dean scream, no cost, just for you. :D)

[stevedeshazer]

9. My kids are VERY motivated

That wasn't always the case.

And yes, we ASKED for their help. That makes a big difference!

[NeoConsSuck]

10. Fear of the Draft..

they don't trust the chimp.

[pinto]

11. First time I've seen a lot of kids in line to vote (7 am...), so I asked..

(I live in a college town, across town from the college, and never saw as many young voters as I did this morning.)

three common responses:

the draft possibility.
the war in Iraq.
measure Q (a local initiative to ban genetically engineered crop testing in our county).

[against all enemies]

12. Jon Stewart, and other people that tell the truth.

The truth is very refreshing and those telling it are anti-Bush. Young people are generally pretty hip, and they can smell a rat. Bush/Cheney is one stinking rat.