Editorial
Students apathetic after '08 presidential election
February 24, 2010
The Presidential elections in 2008 were unlike that has been seen before, in the sense that all the 20-something-year-olds of the nation made a huge difference.
According to a study conducted by the Pew Research Center, 66% of the “Millennials,” how the survey referred to the people who will be making the passage into adulthood at the start of the new millennium, backed President Obama in his campaign.
The Pew study now shows that the enthusiasm of the “Millennials” has gradually decreased since Obama was elected. According to the survey, about half of these twenty-odd-year-olds say that President Obama has failed to change the way Washington works, which was the main promise of his campaign. About 30-percent of these people blame the president himself; the others say the blame should be cast upon his political opponents and special interests, instead.
The Student Voice Editorial Staff whole-heartedly agrees with these statistics and findings. The enthusiasm and passion felt by the so-called “Millennials” during the ‘08 elections was obvious. College-aged people were beginning to strongly identify themselves as either liberal or conservative, and these identifications were not even necessarily based on what their parents thought, like had been the early habit.
To have made such a boom, nationally, it is disgraceful for the statistics that had previously spoken so highly of young adultsí political involvement, to now show that by early 2010, these same peoplesí support for Obama and the Democrats had dropped drastically.
As an individual responsibility to the United States, citizens - regardless of age - should be active in their government. Having made such a powerful, loud voice for themselves, the voting youth has to continue to be boisterously involved in politics.
The issues that the federal government deals with are, as it should go without saying, affecting every person in the country. It is of utter importance for the country to actively participate in its politics, in order to keep the foundation of democracy stable and alive.
As UW-River Falls students, there are several ways to stay in the know when it comes to the nationís politics. The New York Times is readily available on campus for students through the American Democracy Project. There are organizations for both student Republicans and student Democrats, and the Student Senate is a good place to learn the ways campus politics shadows and is affected by the national government.
In addition, a simple Google search will dispense countless articles for your own interests.
Staying involved in and knowledgeable about the national government is important, but after making such a splash in the ‘08 elections, 20-something-year-olds today have even heavier expectations weighing down on them. In order to shake the embarrassment the generation has cast upon themselves, they must take personal initiative in keeping up with President Obama and his administration.