Politics & Government

Youth Vote Demands Policy, not Politics in Presidential Election

Dakota High School government classes offer insight as to what presidential hopefuls need to do and be to secure America's youth vote in November 2012.

Although many of Macomb Township’s high school seniors are not planning to vote in next Tuesday’s primary, this lack of participation is due more to their ineligibility than disinterest in the 2012 presidential race.

Because the primary had a Jan. 30 voter registration deadline, those students who turned 18 on or after that date are legally barred from casting votes on Feb. 28.

But that doesn’t mean they’re not paying attention.

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In Patricia O’Connor’s government classes at Dakota High School, 17- and 18-year-olds are studying everything from checks and balances to the inner workings of the Electoral College. And from these readings and lessons, they are forming opinions that, if expressed in the form of votes, could have a significant impact on the November election.

“These are very bright teenagers, and they do have good opinions,” O’Connor said. “They have a lot of strong feelings about government, but it is a superficial understanding right now. They haven’t studied it for the reason most kids haven’t–it hasn’t had any meaning in their life yet. They just see the inkling now that it might have some meaning in their life.”

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Only a handful of O’Connor’s students will be eligible to vote in next week’s primary, but few are disappointed, with many expressing the opinion that at this stage in the race, their home state will play only a small role.

“I don’t think Michigan is going to be as important as the other states, because we’re only going to get half the delegates,” said Armend Marku, Dakota senior.

Because Michigan moved its primary up to February, without permission from the national GOP, only 30 of the state’s 59 delegates will have voting privileges at the national convention.

“Mitt Romney is from here and he won last time here,” added fellow senior Gabrielle Rizk. “There won’t be much of a fight.”

But even if Romney wins Michigan and goes on to become the Republican presidential candidate, he and Barack Obama will have a long way to go to win the youth vote.

For the majority of O’Connor’s students, it will be a candidate’s policy, not party, that earns their vote in November.

“How does knowing politics actually help policy? You have to have good issues,” said senior Tyler Wellman. “I’d rather elect a career businessman than a career politician. I mean what are we getting out of that?”

Where a candidate’s religion has often influenced previous generations, O’Connor’s class says, “Religion is not an issue.”

Controversial mainstays like gay rights and abortion are also non-issues for Millennials (born 1980-2000), who are much more concerned with the state of the economy, future of health care and rising price of education.

“I feel like we have more to worry about than gay marriage,” said one student. “I don’t think a president should have more rights to my uterus than I do,” added another.

For Dakota senior Lindsay Gottschalk, her vote will go to the candidate who presents a plan for the economy in writing and not a jumble of campaign promises.

“I’m looking for the president’s budget for the country because I think so many politicians make so many proposals for what they want to do with money they don’t have,” Gottschalk said. “Before they make promises they should figure out how much money they have to work with.”

This generation's candidate will be intellectual, trustworthy and able to compromise on all issues. Their ideal president will listen to the people and act in their best interests. Their definition of "people" does not include corporations.

"If you saw these same kids right before they graduate, they go through a transition that they really do understand the world and I would put them up against any adult in the U.S.," O'Connor said of her classes. "Most adults in U.S. are very complacent and don’t know very much about politics. These students are ready to be adults in a complex world."


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