For the last few months, America has seen fervent campaigning from both parties, with Barack Obama coming out the victor.  Many have speculated that this is the result of a massive turnout of younger, more progressive voters, a demographic that has been in low representation in recent elections.  Obama’s age may have been an important factor to this demographic.

“Obama isn’t a baby boomer, and that really appeals to me.  He represents the next generation leading our country,” said Brain Curran, a junior political science and environmental studies double major.

Nationally, 66% of voters ages 18-29 voted for Obama, whereas 32% voted for McCain, according to CNN.com

“I think that historians are going to look back on this election and say, ‘2008 was the year when the young people of this country stood up and spoke out.’ Our generation is finally taking the reigns of power,” said Junior Religion Major Andrew Yackel-Juleen.

The 2008 election saw not only a surge in young voters, but of voters of any age. According to infoplease.com, this election saw a 64.1 percent voter turnout, the highest it has been since 1908.
“I think the youth of this country have been more involved than ever in this election. Obama really has an appeal to young people, and I think it’s  because he is something different, something fresh. He’s not the typical dry mouthed, old, white man that we’re so used to seeing in politics,” said Yackel-Juleen.

“I voted for McCain, but I think Obama really connected well with younger voters, partly because he’s a very inspirational speaker and was able to get a lot of younger people excited about politics for the first time  . . .  people are hopeful about the country, and that’s always a good thing,” said Andrew Evenson, senior accounting major.

Gustavus students participated not only by voting; the College Democrats and Republicans were in full force campaigning and registering new voters before the election. With the voter turnout as high as it was, it is evident that their struggles were not it vain.

The local precinct which Gustavus is a part of had over 1600 voters, the highest turnout it has ever seen.

“We’ve been heavily involved in this campaign through door-knocking, canvassing, and just talking to people, making sure they go out and vote. I drove an election van, making sure people got to the polls and handed out a lot of literature,” said Yackel-Juleen.

“This was the easiest election in recent memory to get people out to vote and to volunteer—there was definitely energy among the student population and more interest than I had seen before,” said Nick Stramp, senior political science major.

Gustavus students had many reasons for voting the way they did, chief among them the economy and the environment.

“We have the technology to make America’s industry and lifestyle more environmentally friendly, and Obama will take us in this direction. Obama can fix our economy and decrease the demand for foreign oil with his plans for alternative energy—creating jobs and reducing our carbon footprint,” said Sophomore Jordan Walker.

Garret Rorem, a senior psychology major, said, “The economy was a particularly salient issue for most of the electorate. I was disappointed to see Obama win because I believe that his economic policy is quite reflective of his socialist tendencies. Democratic presidents who have failed to take into account that America is more centrist-right than liberal have faired poorly.”

Though some are disappointed by the results of the election, many are optimistic and excited about the future of America under the leadership of President-elect Obama.

“This is our moment. This is our time—to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American Dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth—that out of many, we are one,” said Obama in his address at Grant Park on Tuesday night.