The magazine of the North Carolina Center for Voter Education • Saturday May 19, 2012

Catching Up with the 'New Generation' of Voters

By Regan Gatlin
Published: July 29, 2011

RALEIGH - The 2008 presidential election saw a series of historic firsts. It was the first election where a woman was a leading presidential candidate for a major party and the first instance where a black man was elected to the Oval Office.

Not only was this election historic, but it was a very exciting one with charismatic candidates, enthusiastic speeches and widespread participation by young voters. The turnout amongst voters ages 18-29 rose to 51 percent in 2008, according to the Center for Information & Research On Civic Learning and Engagement.

This “new generation” of voters is comprised of 44 million Americans, or one-fifth of the electorate, according to Rock the Vote.

These young voters are fortunate to have been politically active, and many of them were eligible to vote, in the 2008 election. Some of the young voters were in high school at the time of that year’s election, and some of them had already entered the workforce. These young voters supported candidates, worked for campaigns, and even wore candidate propaganda.

With the 2012 presidential election already on the horizon, I wanted to check in with the generation of young voters who first made their mark on politics in 2008.

To do so, I produced an unscientific survey that I presented to my peers through social-media outlets. Though the survey did not give me as much response as I would have hoped, it provided a general idea of how young voters feel about their age group when considering what the 2008 election means for their future participation in politics.

The survey respondents were kept anonymous. While they were not asked to name their political party, they were asked to reveal the candidate they supported in 2008. The responses I received represent a mixture of young voters from both sides of the ideological spectrum.

Of those who responded to the survey, 58 percent were in high school during the 2008 election and are now in college, 28 percent were in college that year and are still in college or just graduated, and 15 percent were either in college or high school and are now in the workforce.

“I was a freshman in college,” said one survey respondent. “But I had been following the 2008 election cycle since it began in early 2007 when I was in high school.”

Among the respondents, 38 percent joined a political organization such as Young Democrats or College Republicans and 33 percent of the respondents are still in a political organization. Nearly 98 percent of respondents plan on voting in 2012 and 50 percent of them voted in the 2010 midterm election.

“Politically, it gives me the chance to see the inner workings of campaigns and life inside political offices,” said one respondent in regards to participating in a collegiate political organization. “Socially, it helped me make a lot of new friends. Professionally, it has helped me with most of my internships.”

When asked how they gathered their information on the candidates in 2008, 70 percent said they did their own research on the candidates, and all of them listened to radio shows or watched the news to receive information.

“I am an issues-based voter,” one participant said. “I want to make sure the best candidate gets in regardless of party affiliation. I decide who I will vote for by first figuring out who I can vote for, then researching both sides to figure out what they have done, but more importantly what they will do (or stand for) if elected.”

Forty-eight percent said that they wore candidate propaganda around to either classes or in their daily lives in 2008, and 78 percent said that they would still support the candidate they supported in 2008.

The respondents were also asked their opinion on whether or not President Barack Obama has held true to the promises he made in his campaign for the White House. Thirty percent said that he has held true, 53 percent said that he has failed to do so and 18 percent said that they were not sure whether or not he has held true to those promises.

“No matter how much a person says they will do something, there are always barriers standing in their way,” one participant commented.

A majority of respondents -- 73 percent -- said that they believed Obama’s greatest strength in 2008 was his ability to motivate young voters. When asked whether or not they believed that their age group would continue to be engaged in politics, 80 percent said yes. However, when asked whether or not they believed that their age peers would continue to be as engaged as they were in 2008, 65 percent said no.

“Obama was able to energize the entire nation, [whether] it be in support of him or against him, in a way that no other candidate in the past had done,” a respondent said. “I feel that many youth have their attention, and rightfully so, focused on finishing their education and finding a job instead of being able to focus on everything going on in the political world. I think that eventually [this generation] will become involved in politics again, but it will be once they have established a career.”

Young voters did more than just vote in the 2008 election, they actively participated in campaigns.

“I wore a McCain pin on my backpack, and I had a blue and pink ‘Go Johnny Go’ shirt!” a respondent reported. “I also wore a sandwich board in downtown Raleigh to help [Sen. Elizabeth] Dole, and I handed out stickers/campaign pamphlets [at] the state fair.”

Various participants mentioned their working in campaigns and spending time phone banking for particular candidates.

“I decided to get involved because I knew it was the only way to help the candidate I supported,” one survey respondent said. “Wearing propaganda helps increase name recognition.”

It is also important to consider those young elected officials who are included in this new generation of voters. Based on the young voter turnout in the 2008 election, it does not come as a surprise that young people are now seeking elected office as they are gradually coming of age to run. In June, President Obama hosted nearly 200 young elected officials at the White House for briefings and later a reception.

There is a Young Elected Officials Network that offers the opportunity for young public servants to get together and interact, as well as provides support for these officials to better their communities and constituencies. The new generation of voters who have proven to be politically active are now being elected into offices in various states and communities and bringing new input and a new perspective to politics.

Other organizations that are important in understanding how active this new generation of voters are would be groups such as Young Democrats of America, Young Republicans, Young Americans for Liberty, and so on. They provide young voters a network to share their views and to continue to grow in their political maturity and to become beneficial citizens who are avid voters and active in their communities.

One particular survey participant said that their political activism group provided “networking, political activism, a great way of finding a job for when [I] graduate, a chance to learn the ins-and-outs of our political system as well as [giving] you a chance to interact with many major players in politics.”

The respondent added that engaging in political activism ”gives you a chance to expose your fellow students to ideas they would never have been exposed to otherwise.”

This new generation of voters are quite an active group. They are engaged citizens, politically active students, workers, elected officials, leaders, and they are the future. 

The election of 2008 may have been a once-in-a-lifetime event, but for the young voters that were inspired by that year’s races to engage in politics for the first time, it was also an experience that may have launched a lifetime of civic participation.