Newswise — Sixty-seven percent of young voters ages 18 to 29 in the four battleground states of Ohio, Florida, Colorado and Virginia say the economy is the most important issue in the upcoming election, according to an online survey of 128 young voters conducted by American University students. The war in Iraq was ranked second at 64 percent, health care was considered third at 46 percent and the environment fourth at 37 percent. The results of the online survey were published today on washingtonpost.com
Respondents could identify more than one issue as a very important election issue.
Respondents' named student loans among their primary economic concerns, but they also mentioned the job market and rising cost-of-living expenses.
"The economy is the most important issue because things do not seem to be getting any better. In fact, they appear to be getting worse," said Teresa Cummings, a young Colorado woman who works in educational travel. "If we do not have jobs that pay us a decent wage, how can we buy $3 gas, pay increases in rent that are sure to happen, or pay off loans from school?"
Respondents, who were primarily in the 18-to-21 age category, also were concerned both individually and overall about the status of health care, typically an issue of great importance to older voters.
"Health care is something everyone should have and not have to worry about," said Heem Mehmood, a Virginia Tech freshman. "It's ridiculous that today nearly 50 million Americans are without health care and dying because of it [the lack of health care] when we are the wealthiest and most developed country in the world."
Barack Obama won both young people's actual voting and aas their choice when asked to volunteer which candidate they would vote for if the election were held today. John McCain was second, followed by Hillary Clinton. Some young people said they would vote for McCain over Clinton, although they admired Clinton as the first woman with a serious shot at the presidency.
The respondents also were asked about social issues such as abortion, immigration and other topics and were asked how these issues might affect their voting. Twenty-three percent said they would not vote for a candidate with whom they disagreed on abortion, and 34 percent said immigration was a very important election issue.
In other results, 97 percent of respondents said they intend to vote; more than 90 percent think their generation will have some or a lot of influence in deciding the next president; and nearly half said
they probably won't be able to afford to buy a home in the next five years.
Graduate students enrolled in the "Washington Reporting" class at AU created the online survey, with research assistance by the students in the undergraduate "Reporting" course. The graduate students wrote the survey questions, compiled the results from Feb. 15 to Feb. 22, and wrote a series of articles entitled "Youth Vote '08: A Millennial Take on Election 2008 from Four Battleground States." The project is a follow-up to a similar class project by AU students last fall in which college students were surveyed about the 2008 election. The previous project was also published by washingtonpost.com.
The students, taught by Jane Hall, associate professor of journalism at AU's School of Communication, designed a Web-based survey application after consulting with Dotty Lynch, executive in residence at the School of Communication and political consultant for CBS News, and Maria Ivancin, assistant professor of public communication and survey research expert. The respondents were chosen to be roughly proportionate to the latest census data of 18-to-29 year-old adults for ethnicity, gender and representation among the four states.
The results broke down as follows:
Very important election issues"¢ 67 percent said the economy "¢ 64 percent said the Iraq war"¢ 46 percent said health care "¢ 37 percent said the environment"¢ 34 percent said illegal immigration"¢ 30 percent said abortion
Candidate preference if election held today"¢ 54 percent would vote for Barack Obama"¢ 18 percent would vote for John McCain"¢ 10 percent would vote for Hillary Clinton
The complete survey results and articles can be viewed through the washingtonpost.com URLs below.
Election Sparks Interest in Politics Among Younger Voters http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/29/AR2008022902384.html
Obama Top Choice in American University Survey http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/29/AR2008022902588.html
Abortion, Economics Key Issues For Young Voters http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/29/AR2008022902646.html
Rising Health Care Costs A Concern Among Young Votershttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/29/AR2008022902723.html
"Washington Reporting" is a class offered through American University's School of Communication, a laboratory for professional education, communication research and innovative production across the fields of journalism, film and media arts, and public communication. Patrick Butler, vice president of the Washington Post Company; Susan Zirinsky, executive producer for CBS's "48 Hours Investigates" ; and Tony Perkins, morning anchor for WTTG Fox 5 and former meteorologist for ABC's "Good Morning America" are among the School of Communication's alumni who maintain close relationships with the school.
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