This election year has been full of surprises. In one party, an unlikely candidate emerged after his campaign was all but abandoned by political pundits. In the other party, a black man and a woman are dueling it out to win their party’s nomination. What a few months ago seemed like David vs. Goliath has turned into a modern Red Sox vs. Yankees match. All of this and it’s only February!

The most impressive fact about this election season, however, is the number of people who are coming out to vote. The turnout this year has been higher than in previous years. There are several reasons for this: 1) There is no incumbent president or vice-president who is running for president in either party; 2) people are genuinely interested in their party’s candidates; and 3) people are just looking forward to elect a new president in November. Regardless of the reasons for the excitement or results of the election, I believe that this election has sparked lasting energy to my generation because young people are participating in the political process like never before.

I am excited about this because throughout high school and college, teachers and professors made a clear distinction between their generation and mine. These professors made it clear that activism during their adolescence was much more active than my generation and, in turn, my generation was apathetic. They cited the American Civil Rights movement, which included the civil rights, the human rights, and social rights movements as their generational accomplishments. Movements powered by people who were vocal and passionate on a cause. And because of their actions they changed the ways of the country. It wasn’t to one person’s credit, but to all the people who rallied valiantly and stood for change.

Now, comparing one generation with another is a tricky thing. I don’t want to say that one generation is better than another, but I want to prove that this generation is active and not apathetic. My generation is actively speaking its mind and having its voice heard. But it is using a completely different approach than past generations and it’s due to technology.

The technological medium that has been added in our time is the internet. The internet has changed the way people communicate and organize. Just think of how people join a chatroom and are then able to speak to people from around the world. Less than fifteen years ago this seemed unfathomable. Because of the internet, however, more people are writing their thoughts than in any other point in history. People are writing about anything and everything and it’s amazing. They write in blogs, social networks, chatrooms, forums, reviews, comments, messages, and yes, even by poking (it is a way to communicate). Never before in history could you find so many different to express your opinions

How does all this connect? The larger turnout in these primary election has occurred because the candidates realized the importance of technology in the race. Life was injected into the race when the candidates stopped using only television, radio and newspapers to get out their campaign message, but used the internet to build political capital. Just look at the way Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton fundraised more than $7 million through their website in the three days after Super Tuesday.

These campaigns used the medium to focus on issues and bring us out. There has been much success in the campaign since 18-30 years old now account anywhere from 15-20% of the electorate (a large percentage block than previous years) and are being taken seriously by candidates who just assumed they wouldn’t vote. It can make that difference. We are making a difference in the way the campaign is financing itself and, most importantly, we are making a difference at the polls.

Not bad for being apathetic.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 12th, 2008 at 9:44 am and is filed under General, Politics, Blogroll. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.