Twenty-year-old Ben Shapiro, columnist, law student, speechwriter, and "Young Republican" (by the way, I dated one of those once...never again), writes on why people in our age bracket are voting for Bush:

"People my age don't vote much. This election should break from that pattern. While a lower percent of 18-year-olds to 30-year-olds will vote than those in other age ranges, the percent will rise from 2000. And there's no guarantee that the youth vote will be a boon for Sen. John Kerry. In fact, the latest Washington Post/ABC poll shows George W. Bush holding a 53-41 percent lead among those aged 18 to 30, the highest level of support for Bush among any age group.

Young people are turning more and more away from the solutions of the Democratic Party. The old adage that as people age they tend to become more Republican is being turned on its head in this election: The Washington Post/ABC poll shows that Kerry's support comes from those among the 61 or older population. A September 2002 University of California at Berkeley study showed that on certain social issues, young people were more likely than their elders to slant conservative. Those between ages 15 and 22 showed markedly more support for school prayer, faith-based initiatives and government restrictions on abortion than adults over 26. Virginity rates are rising, and teenage pregnancy rates are dropping."

Shapiro goes on to note the discrepancies within the 18 to 20 crowd:

"The evidence isn't unanimous, however. The 18 to 30 crowd has the lowest approval ratings for President Bush of any voting group. My peers largely support the gay activist agenda and higher education costs, and feel that depictions of violence and sex in mass media do little harm. Those virginity statistics may be misleading: There is a rising contingent of young people who have oral sex but still count themselves virgins. Only 41 percent of 18 to 30s say President Bush shares their values, while 45 percent say John Kerry does -- it's the only age group to sympathize with Kerry's values over Bush's."

Shapiro's further analysis is worth reading. Within my social circle, my peers are most definitely divided, even though many of us share in the same moral worldview. A good take away from this article, and also worth noting by the older generation is that the younger generation is not as monolithic as our culture would paint us to be. Even within our age bracket, you will find people at opposite ends of the spectrum.

Posted by Ambra at September 30, 2004 12:37 PM in Politics