 | Creepy | |
| ABC Interviews McCain & Obama on Crisis | |
| Bloomberg To Seek Third Term | |
| Sneak Peek: Obama Up in NJ | |
| When You Think About It That Way |
| Why the Bailout is Bad for America | |
| Debating the Debate With College Students | |
| McCain's Gambles Not Paying Off | |
| McCain's Remarks on the Economic Crisis | |
| Obama's Remarks on the Economic Crisis |
| Panel on the Bailout Bill Failure | |
| Sens. Kerry & Graham on "Fox News Sunday" | |
| Giuliani & Wexler on "Hannity & Colmes" | |
| Obama's Statement on Economy, Debate |
September 30, 2008
Debating the Debate With College Students
By Pierre AtlasA lot of attention is being paid to the youth vote in this election. Will the 18-24-year olds turn out in higher numbers this time than in past elections, and will they vote overwhelmingly for Obama as predicted by many pundits? Are the pollsters accurately capturing their opinions and their numbers, given the fact that many younger people use cell phones--which are not often incorporated into survey research?
I cannot offer any scientific data to answer these questions, but I can share some anecdotal observations about young voters. I spent last week's presidential debate with a group of students at Marian College in Indianapolis. The event, held in one of the campus dorms, was billed as "Pizza and Politics." Free pizza and soda, combined with the buzz surrounding the campaign and the uncertainty of John McCain's participation, all managed to convince about thirty young people to stay in on a Friday night and choose politics. As one of Marian's political science professors, I was invited to join the group and facilitate the post-debate discussion.
The group ranged from freshmen to seniors in various majors, and included several passionate Obama supporters and some die-hard McCain fans. Several students were continuously texting on their cell phones during the debate. But they demonstrated their ability to multi-task, for it became clear in the discussions that they had also paid close attention to what the candidates were saying.
This was not a randomly selected focus group, so their opinions cannot be generalized to the Marian College student body. But the post-event discussion was lively and engaging, with the students offering sharp and thoughtful observations. One student said that Obama "has great ideas but he still seems like an empty suit." Another said that "McCain scored a point on Pakistan--you don't tell them you'll attack ahead of time." Someone else volunteered that she wasn't impressed by how many times McCain had been to Afghanistan and was annoyed that he kept pointing it out. A few students were quick to note that while Obama was wearing an American flag lapel pin, McCain wasn't. Someone asked, cynically, if this must mean that McCain isn't a patriot. Another responded that if you've been tortured in a POW camp, you don't need to wear a lapel pin to show your patriotism. I couldn't tell from his tone whether he was being serious or sarcastic.
Given that more than a third of this "foreign policy" debate was devoted to the economy, I asked how many students were concerned about the current financial crisis. Every student in the room raised a hand. "We're going into the workforce in a few years," said one. "I want to know that I'll have a job." They were split evenly on the $700 billion Treasury proposal. "Is it our responsibility to bail out these companies?" asked one young man. "This isn't the way capitalism and the free market is supposed to work," said a female senior. Others countered that there really was no choice--the government needed to intervene in order to stave off an even larger crisis. It struck me that the discussion in the dorm's common room among those 18-22 year olds wasn't that much different from the debate occurring in Congress.
One student asked what the difference was between McCain's and Obama's tax plans, and others jumped in to explain some of the details. A discussion ensued about the economic merits of tax cuts for the wealthy versus the middle class. As I took notes on the students' remarks, I was impressed by their general knowledge and by the insightfulness of their questions. They clearly cared about what is going on in the country and wanted to learn more. There is of course a "self-selection" bias here--these are students who chose to watch the debate--but it made me hopeful that the canard about "apathetic youth" might be disproved with the November elections.
Were the students convinced by this debate that Obama has the experience to deal with foreign affairs? Many said yes. One young lady noted that Obama's experience only looks "slight" in comparison to McCain's. Were Obama running against someone else, she said, the difference wouldn't appear so lopsided. Another student observed, "I don't know if experience is always the best thing. Experience can give you a biased opinion." Has McCain drawn the right conclusions from his experience, she asked? She wasn't so sure.
As the evening wound down, I asked the horserace question. Who were they going to vote for? About half said they planned to vote for Obama, a quarter said McCain, and a quarter was undecided. I was surprised by the number of "undecideds" and I asked why.
One student said the choice was between "the lesser of two evils," and he hasn't yet concluded which candidate is the worst. Another said that while he is socially liberal, he is conservative when it comes to national security and the war on terror, so he was torn between Obama and McCain. A third said she had just begun to pay serious attention to the campaign, and felt that she needed to get more information before she made her choice. The last word went to a student who put the question in personal terms. "I have to decide which issues are the most important to me over the next few years. I'll have to go into the job market. I'll have to get my own health insurance. Who will be the best candidate for me?"
Their answers were revealing, and perhaps reflective of what some other Americans might be feeling about the two candidates. And even though this was a small group of students, they fortified my hope that the "Millennial generation" will be thoughtful, involved and engaged in politics and the world.
