Punk The Vote
Wealthy and senatorial, John F. Kerry is an unlikely candidate for anarchists and industrial rockers. More significant, perhaps, a recent Harvard poll suggests that the senator has so far not matched Bush himself in his ability to rally youth against the current Administration. Kerry now holds a ten-point lead over Bush on college campuses, but 37 percent of those surveyed said they did not know enough about the Democrat to form an opinion of him, or did not recognize his name. The study indicates that frustration with the President has drawn people to support Kerry by default, as the anti-Bush.
But is rage enough to turn out young anti-Bush voters in November? How about rage, a voter registration table and a good mosh pit? These are some of the unusual election-year questions facing organizers out to tap a strong dissatisfaction with the status quo and channel it toward a level of youth participation in battleground states that could swing a tight election.
The Bush campaign will be spending hundreds of millions of dollars to win this year's election, and it has amassed legions of volunteers of all ages (more than 350,000 of them) to take Bush's campaign door to door. And Nader continues to poll relatively strongly with young people. Surveys of young people conducted this year suggest an amplified interest in this presidential election. Sixty-two percent of those polled by Harvard said they would "definitely" vote in November. Judging from past elections, it's safe to say that this number will definitely not be reached. But a perception that stakes are high in this election is nonetheless likely to stimulate youth turnout in November. Young people have the potential to swing the election one way or the other.
Anger at Bush may only get Kerry as far as Election Day. "On the first Tuesday of the month, we may be voting for you," warns Lazu. "But on the second Tuesday, it's your ass."
No comments:
Post a Comment