To Be Young And To Vote

Much has been reported about the success that Obama is having at motivating people to get out and vote. He seems to appeal to a broad field of voters, but the ones that seems to embrace his message are the young, the less than 30 crowd. He is also appealing to the Gen Xers, the 31-49 group.

I want to talk about the "youth" vote. Recently, after Super Tuesday, I read about the voting habits of the Obama supporters. 58% were under 30, 43% were in the 31-49 category. So, Obama seems to be motivating the youth to get out and make the message be heard. The media is listening, but not as hard as they should. Instead they keep focusing on the gender/race thing; it makes for better copy on the evening news.

Here is a scenario for you to consider. Let's say Obama continues to inspire the youth to vote for him, but in the end, with the deal making Clinton gets the nod as the nominee. My question is: since the nominee is not the person that the youth had wanted, would they still vote in November? Since their candidate was not chosen to lead the party, why would they vote for someone they had already rejected?

I the past I had written about why the Clinton/Obama ticket would be a good ticket. Good only because they positions were very similar and it would give Obama the experience that people accuse him of not having right now. I then looked over the lists and decided that, if Clinton was the nominee she would most likely choose either Vilsack or Bayh as her running mate. Why? They are both part of the DLC, just as Clinton is and would be the logical choice.

After much thought, I have revised my opinion yet again. The youth vote is amazing and if the Dems want to keep their interest and their support, then if Clinton is the chosen nominee, she will need to put Obama on the ticket if she wants to win. Without Obama, I do not think she can beat McCain in the fall. For the first time in a long time, the youth vote could very well be the difference in a win or a humiliating loss. Just a thought.