I just spent the last hour in a bar called Dirty Frank’s at 13th and Pine Streets in Philadelphia. “A dirty bar for dirty people,” one patron called it, which isn’t that far off. On a sunny afternoon like this, Frank’s is often full of Philadelphians kicking back and relaxing, and today was no different. Several middle-aged salesmen lined one side of the bar, and beyond them sat four young men, sipping beers. They’re members of the electricians union who were supposed to be working the polls, but instead decided to play hooky in the cool shadows of Frank’s.
‘I’m not voting because I don’t like any of the candidates,” said one, a baby-faced 21-year-old who wouldn’t give his name. ”It’s going to be McCain, so don’t get your hopes up. Either way this country is so screwed.”
None of the four had voted when I spoke with them, though one said he planned to vote later today. The electricians union they’re a part of required them to work the polls today, but none of them are particularly fired up about the primary.
“Who cares?” said one. Another said he likes Obama because he’s in a better position to beat McCain. Mostly, though, they are the definition of politically apathetic young people.
After the whirlwind of speeches and rallies and debates that have surrounded me over the last week, the sentiments of these young people is a little jarring. It’s definitely worlds away from the responses I’ve received from most students on college campuses around the city. But it’s not all that unusual. In fact, it’s much closer to the norm. Especially for young people who don’t attend college.
Despite significant increases in the numbers of young voters over the last eight years, a new study by the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) found that only 7% of people under 30 without a college degree voted on Super Tuesday.
Numbers like that make it clear how much work still needs to be done to ensure young people have a voice in this country. And in Philadelphia, a city with one of the lowest percentages of citizens with bachelor’s degrees (less than 20% of residents hold one), that 7% could take an even larger toll.
This election has inspired record numbers of young people to get involved in politics, but a much larger percentage of young Philadelphians are spending today in bars, offices or classrooms, indifferent to the circus going on outside.
Across the bar from the four electricians sat another group of young men, who’d been hired to help get out the vote for John Dougherty, a Republican who’s running for the Pennsylvania State Senate.
I talked to them for a few minutes, though most of them seemed uninterested in talking about the election.
“It was a way to make $200,” one of them said, wearing an oversized “John Dougherty” t-shirt.
None of them planned to vote today.
-c