Buoyed by rising youth voting power, student leaders here and in all four of the early primary states called upon the presidential candidates to focus on young voters by outlining detailed plans on key youth issues. The national campaign, called “What’s Your Plan?” asks candidates to reach out to youth on two priority issues – global warming and higher education.
Youth voting power has undergone a significant transformation over the past two election cycles. In 2004, young voter turnout was up 11% over 2000 levels - a rate three times higher than the general population. In 2006 young voter turnout increased by 2 million votes while turnout among all ages only moderately increased.
In 2006, these numbers were a big factor in several tight congressional races in states like Connecticut, Montana, and Virginia. In the close Connecticut 2nd District House race, for example, Congressman Joe Courtney credited his win to his youth outreach program.
Students used today’s Earth Day events to highlight their message, pointing to the surge of student activity on global warming on and off campuses this year. Just last week, students played a major role in coordinating the over 1400 “Step It Up” events around the country calling on our leaders in Washington, DC to address global warming issues.
PIRG students in brightly colored What’s Your Plan? t-shirts and signs asked candidates from both parties questions about their plan for global warming in the four early primary states, California, New York, New Jersey, Oregon, and many other locations around the country.
