October 2008
Future Voters Join the Debate
By Judy Licht
YouTube, Facebook and text messages have become valuable tools of the trade in politics these days. Since most kids are light-years ahead of their parents, technologically at least, campaigns are reaching out through electronics and spreading the word up the family tree. Parents, like Cathy Hope of Virginia, say their children are so tuned in and turned on to politics that they push their parents to be involved, too.
That’s why, on a cold windy night in February, Hope, her kids and a friend stood outside a metro station, each holding a huge white cutout cardboard letter spelling O-B-A-M-A.
All In the Family
Before committing to a candidate, Hope's family weighed the pros and cons of each, and their mom said that, being kids, “They don’t always see shades of gray, especially my 8-year-old. They realized both candidates were phenomenal people who have done a lot with their lives, but they chose Barak Obama.” As her youngest said, “I think he is going to win.”
Hope remembers passing out leaflets on election days with her parents when she was a young girl (her mom and dad met campaigning for Eugene McCarthy in 1968); since then her interest in politicking had waned. “The kids have renewed my enthusiasm. Living in the Washington area, it’s easy to become jaded, but Obama’s positive message has resonated with my kids and has reinvigorated me to help elect a president who will move this country forward.”
How important is the kid vote? Parents, who are used to setting the tone at home, using current events as teaching moments and opportunities to instill their beliefs in the next generation, are sometimes caught off-guard by their children’s enthusiasm for a candidate.
The shifting dynamics of the conversation give pause, as parents stop to listen to a new perspective. Even the most political families are not immune to the voices of a younger generation. Senator Claire McCaskill, of Missouri, came out for Obama in January, risking the wrath of women’s groups who expected her to support Clinton. Louder than any Political Action Committee (PAC) or voting bloc, her 18-year-old daughter Maddie’s opinion carried the most weight, and McCaskill veered away from her political base, adopting the position of her younger constituency at home.
War and Peace
The Iraq War is definitely on the kids’ minds. High school senior Phoebe Nowack supports John McCain, and one of her main reasons is that “he is against arbitrary removal of troops from Iraq. Whether or not you support the sending of our troops in the first place, the fact remains that we have removed the established government and now have a moral obligation to remain until another is put in place.”
Evan Lesmez, Hope’s 12-year-old son, has a different perspective. “What made me interested in Obama the fastest was when I heard he was going to bring people out of Iraq. Plus, he would be the first black president. That’s kind of neat.”
Lesmez said he recognizes that “some people will still be racist,” and Obama will lose their votes. But he hopes that Obama’s candidacy will create more tolerance, and “people will get along better in the future.”
For Lesmez, the fun -- as well as the challenge -- comes in talking to people and trying to get them to see his point of view. “It feels good to tell people what you basically feel inside and try to convince them to believe in something that you believe in.”
Developing People Skills
The ability to get your viewpoint across to a stranger in a reasoned, respectful way is a skill that is good to learn at any age. Benjy Messner, who graduated from high school this year, is deferring college until after the election. He has a job at a Democratic Party office in Virginia as deputy technology director, setting up computers and working on the voter database.
Even though he is a computer guy, Messner knows that communicating well is very important. The hardest part of working on a campaign, Messner said, is developing people skills -- learning “how to frame the issue, how to speak to people and get them to work with you. You need to tell [people] what you are doing, why what you are doing is important, why you need their help, and how their help will change things.”
Making a Difference
When Laurie Carter was growing up, she was interested in politics because her parents were interested. Now, the catalyst is her daughter Melissa, who joined the Young Democrats and served as treasurer in Maryland. Carter’s son is “an independent thinker,” who supports the Green Party. Carter was “kind of shocked” by her daughter’s involvement, “I didn’t expect her to do it. Maybe it is because of her friends being involved, plus she was energized by the whole process, the idea that this is something, ‘I can do,’ believing that ‘I can make a difference if I distribute these leaflets.'”
Melissa’s friend Cathryn Supko grew up in a house where “there’s always a debate going on. My mom is very, very liberal, and my dad is a Republican.” Living in the Washington area, she explains, intensifies a “sense of obligation to be involved. Politics is all around you. Nowhere else can you go to work and be held up waiting for the president to drive by. But so many people around you are apathetic; you feel an obligation when you’re not content with how things are.”
Supko, a college freshman, argues politics with her father “all the time,” and even though he is a Republican, she says he supports her commitment. “He thinks that as long as I think for myself, it’s okay. I’m a Democrat because that’s what I fundamentally believe.” But believing isn’t enough for Supko. “If you don’t like the way things are going, instead of complaining, there are things that you can do.” Knocking on doors, canvassing neighborhoods and “informing people that they can make a difference in their lifestyle ultimately with their vote,” she explained, “is very important.”
Change
Change is what kids talk about. If you want something to be different, they say, get up and work for it. Their enthusiasm, certainty and optimism is refreshing and sometimes contagious, which is why Obama’s headquarters in Bethesda was jumping with activity on a hot summer’s day in August.
Not all kids are convinced that Obama can come through on his promises. One 14-year-old high school freshman said that he doesn’t believe Obama’s slogan “Change” means anything. “He’s a persuasive speaker, but there may not be anything behind what he’s saying. Obama gives answers that people want to hear…not that he can do anything about these things.”
The Obama campaign, though, has made a huge investment in attracting kids. Its website has a whole section devoted to activities geared for children 12 and under, ranging from drawing a picture to taking an adult to the polls on election day. McCain’s website is geared solely to an older demographic.
At the campaign headquarters, two older women, Dorothe Dow and Pauline Sattler, were happy to be in the midst of the activity, surrounded by dozens of young interns. “These are the voters of the future,” they said, and Beverly Ezeokoli, who was manning the front desk, gave the kids credit for bringing “energy and enthusiasm to the office.” The walls in the reception area are covered in handmade signs, and two young junior high-school cousins, Marcus and Chad, were busy hanging red streamers across the wide front desk, livening up the office. They were excited to be part of history, hoping to see the first black man elected president.
Walt Ellis is 10 years old, and he’s in fifth grade. This year, he’s been traveling with his father, campaigning for Obama at the polls in New York, Virginia and the district. He gets a lot of his information on YouTube, and when he hears Obama talk, he feels like the candidate knows how to solve the problems facing us. “I think he can try to stop the war in Iraq and help make peace and give people healthcare if they don’t have it now,” he said.
Simply put, Ellis said that he is participating in the election, because the problems facing our country cause unhappiness. As a kid, that unhappiness is uncomfortable for him. “We’re losing a lot of people in Iraq, and gasoline prices are extremely high now,” he explained.
Understanding the connection between the cost of living and a nation’s well-being, Ellis, a preteen, picked up on an old political realism: “It’s the economy, stupid.” He said, “If we have to keep paying for gasoline, a lot of people won’t have enough money for other things, and we are all going to start getting crabby.”
Judy Licht is a writer and photographer in Washington, D.C.