Report: Young voters supported Democrats and Obama over republicans by large margins in midterms

[bigtree]

from Catalina Camia on Nov. 09, 2010, at USA Today News: http://tucsoncitizen.com/usa-today-news/2010/11/09/report-young-voters-chose-democrats-supported-obama/


Turnout among young voters in last week’s midterm elections was down from 2006, according to a new report out today.

Nearly 21% of eligible young people cast a ballot in the 2010 elections, says the analysis by the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE). In 2006, young voter turnout was 23.5%. Young people are defined for this purpose as 18- to 29-year-olds.

There is a silver lining for Democrats and President Obama . . .

Obama spent the final weeks of the campaign trying to gin up interest among young voters at Ohio State, the University of Southern California and the University of Wisconsin — all in states that had key races for governor, Senate and House.

The CIRCLE analysis shows that young voters were racially and ethnically diverse and supported Democrats and Obama by large margins. For example, young voters chose Democratic over Republican candidates running for the House 57% to 40%. Six in 10 young voters also approved of the way Obama is handling his job, compared with the 45% of all voters who feel the same way.

Peter Levine, director of CIRCLE, says young voters have been a strong constituency for Democrats since 2004. This year’s analysis, he notes, shows some promise for Democrats when it comes to 18- to 29-year-olds. For one thing: nearly 9 in 10 young voters this year were repeat voters, meaning 13% were going to the polls for the first time.


read more: http://tucsoncitizen.com/usa-today-news/2010/11/09/report-young-voters-chose-democrats-supported-obama/

read CIRCLE report: http://www.civicyouth.org/youth-voters-in-the-2010-elections/

[littlewolf]

1. So that is why the Democratic Party

had such HUGH gains in the mid-terms ..
:mad:

:sarcasm:

[bigtree]

2. these voters did their part

. . . no accounting for the folks who stayed home.

The polling does speak to the white male vote that went overwhelmingly to republicans:

In 2008, the strong turnout was driven by youth of color. Again in 2010, younger voters were more racially and ethnically diverse than the electorate as a whole. Among younger voters, 66% were White, 14% Black, 15% Hispanic, 3% Asian, and 2% “all others” (this last category includes Native Americans and those who choose to classify themselves in any of the other categories). In contrast, among voters 30 and older, 80% were white, 10% Black, 7% Hispanic, 1% Asian, and 2% “all other.” Seven percent of younger voters said they were gay, lesbian, or bisexual, compared to 4% of all voters.

Younger Blacks represented 14% of all younger voters, about the same as their proportion of the whole 18-29 population (14.4%). In 2008, they had represented 18% of younger voters and had the highest turnout rate of any racial/ethnic group of young Americans. This year, it appears that their turnout was about on par with younger voters as a whole . . .

Youth of color and low-income youth are voting while dealing with institutional barriers such as disenfranchisement because of felony convictions at much higher rates. Other obstacles were evident at the polls, according to reports from members of the Generational Alliance this past November 3rd.

Young voters in the 2010 election varied greatly in their party and ideological identification. Among young Black and Hispanic voters, nearly three in ten self-identified as liberal democrats compared to 20% of their white counterparts. White youth, on the other hand, were most likely to self-identify as Independents/Something Else (31%) or Conservative Republicans (27%).


http://www.civicyouth.org/youth-voters-in-the-2010-elections/

[Qutzupalotl]

8. They're outnumbered in a demographic sense.

The "boomers" are aging but skewing right. The good news is they'll die off soon.

[bigtree]

3. kick

[Hannah Bell]

4. but most of them were no-shows.

[bigtree]

5. not unusual in a midterm

It's pretty revealing of the hype surrounding the republicans' take-back of the House that there's little accounting of the historical backlash against the ruling party (the victors in the previous election); little mention of the racial animus against this President which drove most of the consequential white male voters to support republicans; almost no recognition of the regional issues which drove the voting; no acknowledgment of how difficult it is to determine what actually kept voters (on either side) from the polls.

I'm sure you're prepared to speak for the *non-voters who allowed republicans to take the House back.

[Hannah Bell]

6. blahblahblah. some of the no-shows were: women, minorities, youth

[bigtree]

9. go ahead

. . . tell me what they were thinking as they allowed republicans to take charge.

Did they really believe they'd be better off under republican rule? Or, were they just obtuse, like your response?

[Hannah Bell]

10. go ahead, keep ignoring the point & throwing up your strawmen.

[bigtree]

11. I got your point

You assume voters who stayed home did so as a protest against all of the progressive initiatives and concerns that were neglected, ignored, or yet unaddressed by the administration. Nice move.

I just wonder why that subset of voters enjoys so much sympathy from progressives for the results of their epic pouting. We got us a republican House. That'll show 'em! :eyes:

[Hannah Bell]

12. i don't assume anything; i note that they stayed home. reportedly obama's

most enthusiastic supporters.

[leftstreet]

7. What happened to Obama's huge campaign army?

:shrug:

[Hannah Bell]

13. he ignored it & it went away. which honestly makes me very sad.

thinking about my young cousins' enthusiasm & some videos of young black men i saw on you-tube practically crying, running down the street & saying "this changes everything!"

[Hannah Bell]

14. he ignored it & it went away. which honestly makes me very sad.

thinking about my young cousins' enthusiasm & some videos of young black men i saw on you-tube practically crying, running down the street in happiness & saying "this changes everything!"

people believed. it's sad to see young dreams disappointed.

[chollybocker]

15. Obama's name appeared on no ballots this year.

FAIL.