Young Voters and their Perception of Change

Hillary Clinton may be shocked that she's having such a struggle which is largely due to heavy participation by young people who see Obama as the true agent of change. It really isn't so surprising. As we get older I believe we tend to forget what it's like to view the world through the eyes and mind of a 20-year-old college student who might be voting in their first presidential election.

When Bill Clinton was elected president in 1992, today's 20-year-olds were 5 years old. By the time his term ended, they were 13. So from their perspective, a Clinton administration is their earliest recollection. And now as adults, Hillary Clinton is perhaps just a relic from that past. And this could be complicated further by Bill's high-profile involvement in Hillary's campaign.

As for the rest of us who are more accustomed to the years whizzing past, we can scarcely believe it's been 15 years since Bill Clinton was elected. At least that's the case with me. And I believe this impacts Hillary more so than John Edwards due to her higher profile during the coming-of-age years of today's first-time young voter.

In Iowa, young voters came out in strength, as did their elders. Fifty-seven percent of voters ages 17 to 24 said Mr. Obama was their first choice, compared with 14 percent for John Edwards and 10 percent for Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.

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No candidate is more aware of the tonic appeal of the youth vote, and more intent on capturing its power than Mr. Obama is. His campaign has the trappings of a youth crusade, an impression he emphasizes by having aides place young people behind him on stage.

I will be very interested to see if New Hampshire experiences a much higher turnout among the 18-24 crowd. And most importantly, if this carries through to the November general election. Because without a high turnout there, we may not experience all this change after all. Based on recent presidential elections, the 18-24 vote hasn't really been motivated in November. Howard Dean showed promise in 2004 with energizing this group. Unfortunately we never got to see what would have happened in the general election with Dean as the nominee.

Perhaps this year, with a Democratic nominee who represents real change, the 18-24 voters will turn out -- in droves.