Dissapointed in how the presidential election results seem to be turning out? Well, blame the youth of America. Young voters preferred Kerry, but voter turnout wasn't high.
This fall, polls from the Harvard Institute of Politics, the Pew Research Center and MTV all predicted that that this would be the year that the long- ballyhooed youth vote would finally make a difference in the presidential race. The youth voter pool is immense -- 40.6 million Americans are between 18 and 29, comprising 1 in 5 eligible voters -- but it has rarely been a factor in the 32 years since 18-year-olds have been eligible to vote. Four years ago, just 37 percent of 18-24-year-olds voted.
But despite all the efforts, an Associated Press exit poll survey found that fewer than 1 in 10 voters Tuesday were 18 to 24, about the same proportion of the electorate as in 2000.
I can't judge the youth of the nation solely based on my experiences with my little brother, and having been a narcissistic youth once myself, I admit I can comprehend the apathy. But jeez! What happened to these kids? (Now that I'm thirty, I can call them kids.) Was P. Diddy's crowd all hat and no cattle?