Youth vote up for grabs; just don’t call them ‘youngsters’

We’re not lazy. We’re just turned off by politicians who don’t speak our language.

Politicians are going after our votes the wrong way.

After all, President Barack Obama showed in his campaign two years ago politicians could connect into the powerful voting force of America’s youth. He secured 60 percent of the youth, compared to 45 percent of those 65 and older.

Obama might want to remember that as he stumps at college campuses ahead of the Nov. 2 midterm elections; Obama was at Ohio State on Sunday.

And, comedian Jon Stewart’s upcoming “Rally to Restore Sanity” Oct. 30 in Washington, D.C., is predicted to draw huge crowds of under-30 viewers — and potential voters.

A president and, now, a politically connected comedian energize youth. How? By giving us a voice. They don’t ignore us for the sake of older voters — whose values don’t match ours.

Georgia politicians need to take that lesson.

I am a 22-year-old student at the University of Georgia — and a youth voter. I spent this past summer interning for the Democratic Party of Georgia. It was exhilarating, entertaining — and shocking.

At the 2010 State Convention, delegates discussed how to engage young voters.

It was discouraging.

The grown-ups — obsessed with water wars and corporate donations — referred to us as “youngsters.”

Good luck talking to any college student after dropping that word.

Another disconnect surfaced when a delegate mentioned holding meetings at 9 a.m. on Saturdays.

Now, that may seem reasonable to the grown-ups, but for us college kids, 9 a.m. on a Saturday is equivalent to waking up at dawn. After a week of day and night overscheduling, it’s our one day to sleep in.

Then, a representative from Young Democrats of America proposed politicians offer food at meetings. The audience blanched.

Once again, I heard it: College students are hard to please. My answer: We’re poor and our metabolism is still high. Give us free pizza, and we’ll follow you anywhere.

Many delegates had Twitter and Facebook, but showed they had no idea how to use their social media. They rarely updated their entries or sought “friends.”

Want to reach young people?

Get on Facebook and Twitter — and stay updated. Play to the needs of the youth — student loans, future jobs, health care, equal rights. Our youthful enthusiasm for the November elections is weak. Passion is turning to cold nonchalance.

Politicians can reignite that spark. Obama and Stewart prove that.

Georgia politicians must get into a 21st-century mindset, viewing us as thinking young people, not as grandchildren or annoying would-be Communists.

Do this, and we — the youth — will vote in November. Don’t do it, and there will be yet another election without young voters.

Courteny M. Holbrook, a senior at the University of Georgia, is Opinions editor at the Red & Black.