Motivated Young Voters

Avens O'Brien (Cheryl Senter, NHPR)

19 year college student Avens O'Brien favors a dark look. Black clothes, black hair framing a pale face. But O'Brien's mood is bright when she talks about the Libertarian party. She plans to run for a seat in the party organization this year. In doing so, O'Brien is carrying on a family tradition

"My parent were founding members of the libertarian party. I grew up with a good sense of
social disobedience. I got most interested in politics in 2000 watching the buch vs gore election I was facinated by it. I started learning about the issues I wanted to learn about economics I wanted to learn about all the social issues going on and I started forming all my own opinions."

As you talk to young voters, a theme emerges -- parents can be key. If parents take politics seriously, it seems to rub off on their kids.

TAPE Hucklbeepix

On a warm August Sunday in a middle-class Manchester neighborhood, the New Hampshire Young Republicans are throwing a cook-out for Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee. 22 year old DJ Bettencourt, the second youngest State Representative in New Hampshire was there. Bettencourt cares deeply about the Republican party.

Young Republican's Huckabee cookout (Cheryl Senter, NHPR)

His hero is Ronald Reagan. It's an affection he learned from his father.

tape dj_bettencourt2
in 1976
a bunch of his friends got him to go to the field house to listen tyo
gov of cal ronald regan and that was when he got interested in politics
it was achanging point in his life.
he alway made sure that growning up as a kid i knew what was going on in the world
we had the dinner conversations about the issues.
even though sometimes i wasn't old enough to fully understand what was going on
he always made sure that i had a firm..broad concept of
the important things going on.

Nick Christiansen(Cheryl Senter, NHPR)

One reason these young people think politics is important is that they think policies are important. They have a sense that what happen in Washington or Concord will affect everyday life.

Many of them remember when they first made that connection. For Nick Christiansen, a member of the College Democrats at UNH, it came during the 2000 presidential race.

tape nickchristiansen1
i was watching al gores convention speech
and he mentioned something about the bush tax cuts.
and how they would give billions of dollars back to the wealthiest americans
and for the porest they would get the equivilent of an extra can of diet coke a week.
and just that comparison made me think and really be interested to reasearch that
so when i looked more into the issues i beacme hooked and
i fel like once you know the gravity of the situation and
and the possibility of impact and influence in peoples lives, its hard to look away from that again

Alicia Dumphy (Cheryl Senter, NHPR)

In this election, the single biggest issue is the war in Iraq. Alicia Dumphy opposes the war.

tape flutedrum

This day, the UNH student is in front of the statehouse for an anti-war rally. Over 800 people of all ages fill the plaza. Impromptu music breaks out. At a very personal level, Dunphy sees strong parallels between Iraq and another war that inspired a generation of young activists.

Tape aliciadunphy1
my father is a veteran of the vietnam war,
and he doesn't speak about it because it has effected him in such a way
that thats a part of him that i can't ever get to know. and that its effected
him so strongly,and there are people my age freinds i went to high school with
that are over in iraq right now fighting, one of them got injured.
and it just brings me to tears and I just can't sit back and let that happen

In the 2004 election, voters under 29 went to the polls at the highest rate in a decade. Typically, turnout drops off in a non-presidential year. But with highly contested races for both congressional seats, on Tuesday, young voters might buck that trend.

for nhpr, I'm cheryl senter