The Democratic National Convention is drawing energy from all 50 states this week, gluing people (and certainly the media) to their television sets. The speeches are captivating, the audience is energized, the camera work is…very well timed. It is a coronation of sorts, a party that has struggled under eight years of learning how to play the "Executive Branch" game. The word 'change' is being traded on the conversational currency exchange in much the same way pennies and dollars are on the monetary exchange. Constant updates, all with the same common denominator: change.
For the past week, I've been on a quest: to find a Republican under the age of 30, in Vermont, who would be attending the Republican National Convention. I failed, and I searched many places. I tried every phone number, Web site and source I could think of, to no avail. But just because I couldn’t find someone in that age group who was headed to the Convention does not mean that there isn’t a large population of young Americans who identify as Republicans.
There has been much talk about how this election is exciting the youth of America more than any election since the ’60s. True, Obama is mobilizing a voter block that hasn't been this excited about politics since Vietnam. But John McCain is the perfect candidate to be running against him.
Harvard’s Institute of Politics conducted a survey of 18-to-24-year-old likely voters. According to the U.S. Census, there are 25.5 million citizens in that age group in the U.S. today. In the survey, Obama has a large lead over John McCain in terms of who they’re likely to vote for (55 percent to 32 percent), but the numbers are basically the same when it comes to young people who are very interested in volunteering for the campaigns (12 percent for Obama, 13 percent for McCain). And the two are in a virtual tie on readiness to be Commander-In-Chief. Obama leads on domestic issues, but McCain is the trusted candidate to be Commander-In-Chief of the military.
Yes, John McCain is a white man running for president, something we've seen since, well, this country was founded. Barack Obama, yes, is unlike any candidate we've ever seen. But when you look at America, not just the coasts but that HUGE portion in the middle, people like what is comfortable and familiar.
Obama will mobilize voters on BOTH sides of the ticket. The threat Obama poses to Republicans has not gone unnoticed, and it would be unwise to write off Republicans as a disenfranchised group of Americans because our current president has turned out to be such a lame duck. Republicans themselves are not lame ducks, and they'll quack up a storm at the polls, if for no other reason than to defeat Obama. However, they have a very strong candidate to vote for.
The Republican Party could not have chosen a more qualified nominee; John McCain has military and political experience, strong credentials and a strong public policy record virtually unmarred by personal scandals. And McCain has the power to inspire as well. It seems as though the media is overlooking his awesome drawing power, as they focus seven straight days of coverage on Obama's international tour, but Republicans aren't on Obama watch, and McCain isn't sitting quietly, waiting for his opponent to take a brief sabbatical from the limelight. He's out there every day pushing his policies and proposals to millions of open ears. Even though the media may not be listening, the voters are.
Even though John McCain may draw the older voters, they’re the ones with the record of showing up on Election Day. And even if the youth vote mobilizes the way that America hopes it will, young people will be showing up to vote for McCain. Obama doesn’t have a lock on the youth vote. And America needs to recognize that before crowning Obama as the next President of the United States. As we’ve learned in the past, no one can predict what will happen on Nov. 4.
Rachel Feldman, 8/26/08