Ian S. Thompson – 11/12/04

This page was last updated on November 12, 2004.

Young people spoke in election; Ian S. Thompson; Beaver County Times; November 12, 2004.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.

“As a young voter and a current college student at Penn State, I have to take exception to Sunday’s editorial ‘A Yawner.’

“It is simply not true to say that young people failed to become involved in deciding the future of their country. Not only did young people become involved in this election, they did so in truly historic and record-setting numbers.”

[RWC] That was true for the electorate as a whole so it’s not surprising it would be true for young voters.

“Contrary to both the predictions and tradition, more young adults voted in last week’s election than in any since 18-year-olds were given the right to vote in 1972. It was the first election that a majority of all young people actually came out to vote, 51.6 percent to be exact.”

[RWC] The 26^th Amendment completed ratification on July 1, 1971, not in 1972 as Mr. Thompson stated.

“Turnout among the young was a full 9 percent higher than was the case in 2000. Some 4.7 million more young adults voted in this last election than in 2000, a number that is likely to increase even further as provisional and absentee ballots are counted.”

[RWC] Turnout was higher for nearly every demographic group, not just young adults. As a result, relative to the rest of the electorate, the “youth” vote was roughly the same proportion as in 2000.

“‘Rock the Vote’ and MTV’s ‘Choose or Lose’ campaign set a very ambitious goal of getting 20 million young people out to vote. Incredibly, nearly 21 million young adults came out to vote, a number worthy of recognition and praise, not ridicule and condemnation!

“Perhaps most heartening of all, voters age 18 to 29 chose Kerry over Bush by a margin of 54 percent to 44 percent, the only age demographic for which this is true. In doing so, young people spoke out loudly and clearly in favor of peace over war and hope over fear. Truly, there is hope after all!”

[RWC] Newsflash to Mr. Thompson, young voters going for the socialist is nothing new. Socialists prey upon those of us who believe government can provide “utopia.” Older voters have the advantage of experience, though even some older voters haven’t learned their lessons.

Let me get this straight, those of us 30 and older spoke out loudly in favor of war over peace and fear over hope? I think not.