Heavy Democratic turnout in Iowa, especially among younger voters, has sent a clear message: the media's proclamation of a Clinton victory was not well received. In fact, she came in third. Turnout among voters under 45 is typically low in the Iowa caucuses; this time around turnout for that age group was several times higher than in 2004 and these younger voters generally picked Obama or Edwards over Clinton. Moreover, participation by really young voters (i.e. 18-29) in the Democratic caucuses more than doubled between 2000 and 2008; their demographic made up 1/5th of all caucus goers in 2008. That's 20% folks.
Why is the youth vote news? Because it's usually ignored by the media ("young people don't vote") or portrayed as a block concerned only about tuition costs and what type of underwear the candidates favor. But realize this: young voters may well decide the next election. In aggregate more votes were cast by the 18-29 demographic in 2004 than by the over-65 group...and guess which group is growing more rapidly? An excellent outline of why the youth vote matters from Future Majority provides the details. Meanwhile, I'll enjoy the fact that young voters participated in the Democratic caucuses last night at twice the level of their Republican peers-- a good sign for November to be sure.
All eyes on New Hampshire now, though we'll be heading out to caucus here in Minnesota in less than a month. I'll be looking forward to seeing how the campaigns address young voters-- and wondering if they will recognize that less than a quarter of them are actually college students.
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