WaPo: Defying stereotypes, the young are more engaged in this campaign than are their elders. A Pew Research Center study released this month asked voters whether they considered this year's campaign "interesting" or "dull." Among those 18 to 29, 67 percent called the campaign interesting, as did 66 percent of those 30 to 49. By contrast, 58 percent of those 50 to 64 and 52 percent of those 65 and over saw the campaign as interesting.
The increase in political interest among the young is staggering. Between 2000 and this year, the percentage of those under 30 describing the campaign as interesting was up 36 percentage points; the increase among those 65 and over was a more modest 18 points.
Could the young make a difference in Barack Obama's favor? Again, the answer is clearly yes. Age is one of the most powerful lines of division in this election. In Pew's survey, under-30s gave Obama his largest lead, 56 to 36 percent. He also led among voters ages 30 to 49 but ran behind among voters 65 and over.
Seminal: So while CNN commentators continue to be impressed by how "articulate" Obama is, America's youth see nothing remarkable in the fact of an intelligent black man taking center stage. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and other civil rights leaders paved the way for Obama, certainly: but so did KRS-ONE, Dr. Dre, Chuck D, Nas, Jay-Z, Mos Def, Common, Talib Kweli, and Kanye West. So did Chris Rock and Dave Chappelle. So did Michael Jordan and Dennis Rodman. So did Denzel Washington, Spike Lee, Wesley Snipes, and thousands of other major figures in our culture.
I do not often care to generalize, and racism remains a potent force in this country, but on the whole young white Americans are more comfortable with racial pluralism than earlier generations were. And that doesn't just include the mass hip-hop culture that MTV beamed into our living rooms since we were children. That also includes attending schools and colleges where racial diversity is an entrenched value, traveling at high rates to foreign countries, and growing up in an atmosphere of frank discussion about race in America, from the Rodney King beating to the OJ trial to a slew of TV shows and movies that deal with race in complex ways. Just watch the show Boondocks if you don't believe me: times have changed.
So for a lot of youth, Obama is not "the black candidate." He is a candidate who is also black.
What do younger voters admire about Obama?:
Seminal: I admire Obama for his wise decision to marry Michelle. She is an intelligent, accomplished, beautiful woman.
I admire Obama because he refuses to play the politics of fear. This is no small feat post 9/11 America. McCain and the Republicans try to win elections by playing on our fears. Obama speaks to our hopes–our desire to end a misbegotten war in Iraq, our desire to rejoin the community of nations, our desire to end the failed policy of tax cuts for the wealthy, and everyone else fends for themself.
I admire Obama because he is absolutely unflappable. Show me a time when he lost his temper or lost his cool. Contrast that with John McCain, whose temper has scared the hell out of people even in his own party.
And yes, I admire Obama for his speech in 2004, for his speech when he became the nominee, for his speech in race relations, for all of his speeches. Cohen may dismiss this as just words. So was the Declaration of Independence, so was Tom Paine's Common Sense. Obama's words have inspired millions. That too is something worthy of admiration.
