Last night, young voter turnout made a significant impact on the outcome of a major election, and is even getting its due in the media. Young voters showed up to tonight's Iowa caucuses in droves, and their turnout made a significant difference in the overall outcome.
This isn't news to those of us who (ahem) have an interest in young voters. Our turnout increased 25% between 2002 and 2006, and voters under 30 were the only age group to go for Kerry in 2004. But thanks to the astounding support of young voters for Barack Obama, the growing importance of the young vote -- particularly to the Democratic party -- has finally begun to receive its due.
Above all, regardless of who these young voters are selecting, young Iowans' tremendous participation in the Democratic caucuses bodes well for the general election, not to mention the future of our country.
22% of Iowa Democratic Caucus-Goers Were Under 30
According to CNN, 22% of caucus-goers were aged 17-29. And with a tremendous turnout of over 238,000 Iowa Democrats, it's even more significant--astounding numbers of young voters turned out in a year that saw an 89% increase over 2004. In fact, in a caucus marked by extraordinary turnout, it looks like young voters increased their turnout most of all.
Iowa's Young Voters Favored Obama By a 43% Margin
Now, these young voters didn't just show up, they caucused heavily for Barack Obama. This supports the general sense that young voters are trending heavily towards Obama, and may have been influenced by his strenuous support that students who attend college in Iowa and thus live there a majority of the year be allowed to caucus. The numbers, according to CNN's entrance polls:
Candidate | Voters 17-29 |
Obama | 57% |
Edwards | 14% |
Clinton | 11% |
Given the 22% turnout of young voters, that 43% margin for Obama was absolutely crucial to his 8% victory over Edwards and 9% over Clinton in the overall caucus.
This is a significant moment in the history of young voters. Young voters played perhaps their biggest role in recent history in terms of determining who should be the Democratic Party's nominee in 2008. If anyone other than Clinton goes on to be the nominee, it will be young voters who were key to this first clear demonstration that her inevitability is anything but.
In other numbers, with voters aged 17-25, Obama garnered over 60% of the vote. And, not to leave out our slightly older brethren, voters aged 30-44 also went for Obama, to the tune of 42%. (I guess we can trust people over 30 after all.)
Interestingly, 57% of caucus-goers stated that they were attending for the first time, 40% of whom caucused for Obama, more than any other candidate. Many of these first-timers were likely young voters. I believe that his campaign, his candidacy is bringing new voters to the table, involving more citizens who previously have not felt that any candidate was speaking directly to or for them.
Media Finally Realizes Young Voters Exist
Sometimes I feel like every last American under 30 would have to turn out to vote before we youths would get our due. But tonight, young Iowans got the job done. And finally, our turnout is a major part of tonight's story.
Washington Post:
Senior Obama adviser David Axelrod said of the record turnout, "These were numbers you'd expect almost in a primary. The prodigious turnout was breathtaking, and it eclipsed anything I heard predicted. It's just fabulous to see people engaged in this way."
One crucial group, he said, was young voters. "Younger voters participated in far greater numbers than ever before," said Axelrod as he studied the screen of his Blackberry, still appearing somewhat stunned by the returns.
John Dickerson in Slate:
Obama won with a large portion of young voters, a constituency that has been flaky in the past. The day before the caucus, at his rally in Coralville, Iowa, you could see that they weren't going to dink out this time. Obama raised the roof. Mimicking the pundits, he told the crowd thick with young voters, "Obama has this lead, but 'aw, those people, they're not going to show up. Students never going to show up.' " The crowd screamed back: "Noooo!"
Dude, I take serious umbrage with "flaky." We vote. The media just tends to ignore us, and frankly, so do too many Democratic candidates. It's no surprise that when a candidate fights so hard for our right to vote--throughout his career--that young voters turn out to support him.
Salon.com, How Obama Swept to Victory:
Precinct 47, mostly northwest of Drake University, features a mix of middle-class professionals, immigrants and African-Americans. Each candidate's supporters were overwhelmingly white, but Obama's were clearly more diverse and young. Weslyn Caldwell, 25, said it was her first caucus -- her father lobbied from Missouri to make sure she participated, and the Obama campaign called her twice a night until she finally committed to caucus for him. The African-American mother of a kindergartener, who works at Principal Financial Group (site of a Mitt Romney event today), says she considered supporting Hillary Clinton, but finally went for Obama. "She thinks she has all the answers; he seems more open to the change we need."