Young voters will play a key role in determining the outcome of the US presidential election, with analysts predicting they will overwhelmingly favor Democratic Senator Barack Obama over Republican Senator John McCain.
The vote of senior citizens, however, remains in dispute.
About 44 million young people between the age of 19 and 29 will be able to vote next month, according to a recent Gallup opinion poll. Sixty-five percent of them say they plan to vote for Obama, compared with only 31 percent who plan to do so for McCain.
But among those aged 65 and over, McCain and Obama are statistically tied, 44 to 45 percent respectively.
Seniors traditionally have high turnout rates — 72 percent voted in 2004 — while young voters have historically been fickle and unreliable.
The age difference also marks the candidates’ style. During the television debates, McCain, 72, quoted Winston Churchill and Dwight Eisenhower, while Obama, 47, referred to Google.
On Sunday former secretary of state and military leader Colin Powell endorsed Obama, calling for the need for “generational” change.
“I think we need a transformational figure, I think we need a generational change. That is why I’m supporting Senator Obama,” Powell said in an interview with NBC.
“I strongly believe that at this point in American history we need a president ... who will not just continue basically the policies we have been following in the recent years,” Powell said.
Analysts believe that on Nov. 4, election day, one of the surprises will be a heavy turnout of young voters, dubbed Generation Y.
“This generation feels full of confidence, full of hope and they feel empowered, so they will go to the candidate that taps into their feelings of hope and optimism,” said Ann Fishman, president of Generational Targeted Marketing in New York.
Obama was able to connect with this voting group using the Internet, Fishman said.
“He approached them early and asked their opinion and got them involved,” she said.
However, Fishman warned the support of these young people, who value honesty most of all, is fragile.
“They understand hype and spin, they understand when you are marketing to them,” she said. “If it turns out that Obama is more packaging than substance and the perception is that he is not what he promised ... they can turn against him.”
Stephanie Young, a 24-year-old Atlanta native, handles communications on behalf of Rock the Vote, a group with the goal of registering as many voters as possible.
“The youth vote will be extremely important this election,” Young said. “Young people are activated, volunteering and registering in record numbers.”
Rock the Vote says it has already registered some 2.4 million voters aged 18 to 29.
The key issues for young voters, according to Young: 13.3 million of them have no health insurance; the cost of education that is going through the roof; and a desire to get better-paid jobs.
“A youth revolution is coming!” Young claims. “As we take over the work force and politics we are hoping to make America a stronger and better place not just for certain people but for every single American.”
Talk is different at the other end of the generational spectrum.
McCain is counting on votes from the Silent Generation, people of about his age who are quietly replacing the generation that lived through World War II.
Fishman said women in this group are important. Silent Generation women were key in the US feminist movement and are angry at what they see as negative coverage of former Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton and McCain’s running mate Sarah Palin.
Fishman believes they will break for McCain.
Between these two extremes are the baby boomers — the post-World War II generation that is just beginning to retire — and Generation X, or those born between 1961 and 1980. Obama belongs to this latter group.
Jeff Gordinier, author of a book about Generation X, said “Obama has the right amount of idealism” and pragmatism to attract voters of his generational group.
“Obama is the wired candidate, what will rescue us economically in the next decade,” said Gordinier, the editor of Details magazine.
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