IS THE YOUTH VOTING REVOLUTION HERE?

According to a “Letter to the Editor” in my local newspaper, youth voters are predicting a revolution in the election process, and all signs point to a culmination of this promise in November of 2008. The young lady refers to a “reigning generation” that laments dropping a lousy situation in their laps, but she complains that the same group never asked for her or her peers’ input on the issues. Further, the younger constituents have only had the experience of two presidents to help them establish their opinions in the political process, and neither has been what they consider presidential role-models.

In the past, the youth vote has had poor turnout at the polls leading some candidates to believe they don’t deserve much effort. But a recent article in Readers Digest claims there is a new group, ages 18 to 29 called the “Millennials,” that is finding its voice, and plans to use it in the November 2008 election. They profess to be leaving you “Apathetics” behind, and do something about their future. They also accounted for 28 percent of the identity theft victim complaints in 2007, indicating to me there must be concerns for the protection of their names and personal data.

While Millennials are more liberal than their parents, they aren’t as interested in universal health care as simply reducing health care costs. They support gay marriage, but have become more religious in recent years. They voted first in 2000 when they directed their attention to John McCain because of his call for “shared sacrifice and community service.” The Arizona Senator may not be able to expect that same support in 2008. In 2004, Millennials cast almost as many votes as those age 65 plus.

In another piece on the Millennial revolution in the Zero Beta blog, 80 percent feel the economy is very important, followed by 61 percent who felt the environment was the major issue. According to one report, 40 percent of the “M” crowd is Independents, 35 percent Democrats and 25 percent Republicans. And they aren’t poor or uneducated; they are middle class, educated and savvy. But Zero Beta says the Millennials need incentives to get them to the polls, and they haven’t had them in recent years…not until now.

RD found that there was “widespread disillusionment” with the Bush administration, and apparently not a full endorsement of the Democrats by the M folk. They are firmly against the Iraq war, and want to see a sense of morality and good deeds return to the White House. Christina Gagnier of Mobilize.org puts it this way: “…we’re entrepreneurial, not for the traditional purpose of making money but for doing social good.” The White House and congressional leaders could do well by adhering to those values.

I am always looking for a grass-roots base for support in my concept that individuals should be granted control over their names and private information, and be compensated when it is sold as incentive to take on this new responsibility. On the latter, the M crowd is the perfect age group to share in this supplemental compensation to their retirement of an average of $607 each month.

Time will tell just what the Millennials want in their next President, but hopefully one of the qualities is that he or she endorses an agenda for them to take back the rights to their privacy.