Students rock the vote

Students have been demonstrating a national trend for the past few months, getting directly involved in campaigning for the presidential election. Young people are increasingly becoming interested in politics and are paying closer attention to the issues, the candidates and polls than in any other recent election. The members of the Young Republicans and Young Democrats clubs epitomize this trend.

 “I’m young and I will swing the vote; my vote will be counted, I’m voting, and my voice will be heard,” says a poster hanging in Young Democrats club sponsor Mary Richardson’s room. “Young Democrats has gotten stronger and stronger every year,” she said. Members of the over 40-member club dedicate their extra time and energy to campaign work in support of their presidential candidate Barack Obama through activities like phone banking, calling undecided voters and encouraging them to vote, and canvassing, the distribution of information on their candidate to houses, neighborhoods and potential voters.


“We phone bank, we do literature dropping which is putting information on the candidate at peoples houses, and we canvas which is where we go door to door and ask people who they’ll be voting for and talk to them about it. We do it about every other weekend,” said club member Sam Dade. On October 25 club members are planning to march in the upcoming Annandale parade, and work the polls to ensure every Obama supporter gets the chance to vote on election day. “We have done some great things, some important political work,” said Richardson. “The youth vote could be the margin of victory for Obama,” she said.


However, the Young Republicans Club shows that candidate John McCain has also gained support from the growing youth movement. “I have more interest in this election, more voter registrations, and more students working in political campaigns than in previous years,” said club sponsor Fred Zuniga. “Several of my students were among the 30,000 people who went to see the Republican candidates when they came to Fairfax recently. I was told by my students that most of the crowd was young people,” he said.

 Members of the club will continue their campaign work up until the November 4 election. “We plan to attend and volunteer at upcoming fall festivals sponsored by Republican candidates, offer a few days during the long student holiday, pre-election day, to make phone calls post signs and take up any other opportunities that come our way,” said Young Republicans president Bella Ibrahim. Club members plan to become more involved as the election process continues.


“We’ve already started to talk to area Republican committees that are connecting us to the area where they need our help. Since it’s early in the school year we haven’t been to any campaigning events yet. We plan to help most around mid October and early November,” said Ibrahim. For supporters of both Obama and McCain, campaign work helps not only the candidate, but the students as well.


“Students who get involved when they’re young stay involved,” said Mary Richardson. “Once you get involved and start voting, you’re involved for the rest of your life. It’s about being a good citizen.” “It helps young people develop skills interacting with people and to learn how to represent themselves professionally,” she said. It is extremely important to a democratic system that citizens are informed, involved, and voting on elected leadership. A youth movement towards becoming involved in the political process does not only benefit one candidate or another, but the United States as a whole. Regardless of who wins the election, it will have been a decision made largely by America’s youth.