With the 2012 elections just around the corner, voter dissatisfaction running rampant and a Republican primary that leaves most feeling anything but happy with American politics, many fear that college students won't bother voting at a comparable rate to 2008. By not voting, college students rob themselves of their most powerful tool for creating change. In the past, conventional wisdom has said that losing the senior vote will cost a presidential candidate the election. But as we saw in 2008, the first African−American President was elected without wooing the majority of this voting bloc. Then−Senator Barack Obama (D−Ill.) lost the over−65 vote to Senator John McCain (R−Ariz.) but, interestingly enough, won the 18− to 29−year−old vote by a two−to−one margin. Young people are now emerging as an important facet of the electorate. While most young voters can't offer tremendous financial support to a candidate, they can offer their time — a valuable commodity in campaign season — and their vote.
But why should college students vote? What is it about this election that is so important? Putting aside the obvious challenges facing our country as a whole (the growing debt, an economy struggling to recover and a polarized political arena, just to mention a few) there are issues that will directly affect young people and specifically college students.
Recently, President Obama revealed his $3.8 trillion budget. He used the opportunity to highlight his commitment to creating jobs and making college affordable. These have been goals of the president since he took office and something he has continually worked toward. The budget includes $8 billion directed toward community colleges. Many in the GOP camp have written this off as a thinly veiled attempt to court the voters he needs in order to win reelection. While there is no doubt that the president needs young voters to support him, Republicans seem to forget that this isn't the first time President Obama has fought for higher education. In 2009, he sought to direct $12 billion into the higher−education system in an attempt to turn out more graduates. Even more recently, in the summer of 2011, President Obama risked his political livelihood during the debt ceiling negotiations by refusing to budge on Pell Grants for students in need. On the other hand, Republicans have made it their goal to cut the availability of Pell Grants and summer jobs for college students. In a time of economic hardship, education is the last thing that Congress should be stripping down.
Apart from the presidential race, there is a race right here in the Commonwealth that directly affects students. Senator Scott Brown (R−Mass.) is now up for election to his first full term after winning the junior seat in a special election against State Attorney General Martha Coakley in 2010. As a Pell Grant recipient and student at Brown's alma mater, I am personally offended by the senator's lack of support for college students. Since the start of his career in the Senate in 2010, Brown has been an opponent of giving aid to higher education. In March 2010, Brown voted against a bill that would have increased the current limit on individual Pell Grants and directed money toward institutions of higher learning that support minorities. Continuing his crusade against students, in March 2011, Brown voted in favor of the Republican Continuing Resolution, which would have cut the average Massachusetts student's Pell Grant by $700. Given that Brown needed assistance to make his way through college, it is disappointing to see that the senator is unwilling to pass those opportunities along to our generation.
Recently Brown has swung even farther right than some in his own caucus. In response to the recent contraception controversy, Brown decide to co−sponsor the "Blunt Amendment," which will allow employers and insurance companies to drop parts of an individual's existing health coverage if they have moral objections to those services. Not only is this a devastating blow to women's health issues (contraception, mammograms and other vital services could be curbed), but the amendment's vagueness would allow employers to drop coverage for any reason so long as they have a moral objection. The senator's dangerous proposal shows how little he supports the interests of those in the Commonwealth. For someone who brands himself as an independent voice of the people, Brown sure seems to be walking hand in hand with the far right.
While many of the students at Tufts are from another state, voting in Massachusetts is incredibly important this year. Sure, the president will probably carry Massachusetts, but the Senate race could be the one that decides whether Democrats control the body and whether Massachusetts students have a junior senator who supports their interests. For this reason I encourage all Tufts students to register to vote here in Massachusetts.
The issues that affect this state also affect you ,and you should have a say in who represents the Commonwealth. There are many ways to get involved on and around campus. Tufts Democrats works in collaboration with Students for Warren (which supports Elizabeth Warren, a candidate for the Democratic Senate nomination) and Tufts for Obama. Tufts Democrats can also provide you with opportunities to get involved with other Democratic candidates. These groups are committed to making sure young voters have a say in November's results. Students are faced with a choice this election season: We can treat Election Day like any other day and not turn out to the polls, or we can make our voices heard by casting a ballot and sending a message about our priorities.
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