by Paul Schingle

Created on: May 18, 2008

The younger voters of America could have the greatest impact on the final results of this election than they have on any election to date. There is one caveat, however. They have to actually show up. During the primary season, they have been voting in larger numbers than they have been in any time in recent history. A lot of that stems on one cause-Barack Obama. He seems to really be turning the heads of today's youth, and that's a great thing. We can only hope that it carries over to November.

Historically, young voters have not shown up in large numbers. One can only surmise as to why. My feeling is, younger voters often don't see the point. They see Republicans and Democrats as largely the same. They see Washington as a place for "business as usual." They see the usual corruption, deceit and pork-packing earmarking that's gone on for generations. It's not that they don't care-it's that they don't feel that their votes matter, that their voices won't be heard. Until now, I feel they were probably right.

But look at what has happened throughout the primary season. Senators Clinton and Obama have split, more or less the "classically Democrat" demographics. Clinton is taking the working class, less educated blue-collar vote. Obama is taking the classically liberal, ivory tower, educated white male vote. Obama is getting the black vote. Clinton is getting the Hispanic vote. But, who is exciting the youth? Obama. Read Yahoo buzz. Read a lot of the online social websites. This is where you'll find (in many cases) the voice of the young adult. Obama is overwhelmingly preferred among this demographic. As close as the nominating process has been for the Democrats, one could say (with a fair amount of certainty) that the youth vote has put Obama over-the-top. (This is, of course, assuming Obama ends up taking the nomination).

Barack Obama has young people interested in the process, again. It's an exciting time in American politics. And today's youth, so far, seem to want to be a part of it. If it comes down to Obama-McCain in November, voters aged 18-29 may well make or break the election. Not only will the younger vote have an impact-that demographic COULD decide the whole thing.

In assessing the impact of younger voters on the upcoming elections. They could end up making, literally, a world of difference. But, they have to actually show up to do it.

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