Monday, March 3, 2008

Obama is Still Winning the Youth Vote

There are four primaries tomorrow in Rhode Island, Vermont, Ohio and Texas. The Lone Star State appears to be the most competitive one with Sen. Barack Obama edging out Hillary Clinton in most polls by two or three percentage points.
It looks like the youth vote will matter, especially in Texas. Political insiders are saying that Obama is likely to win in Austin, Tx., which is (shockingly perhaps) one of the most progressive state capitals in America, and amazingly enough George W. Bush once resided in the governor's mansion there!
Two surveys, one from "Time" and the other from American University in Washington, DC, show Obama winning the youth vote. According to "Time," 29 percent of college-age students favor Obama as opposed to 20 percent for Clinton and nine percent for John McCain. Several candidates like John Edwards and Mitt Romney have dropped out of the race since the "Time" poll was taken.
This lead Jason Evans, 19, a Republican/Libertarian student at the University of Georgia to tell "Time" that:
"Young voters think their vote won't count. But it will make a difference"

I actually voted when I was 18 back in 1988, though there were no primaries in Virginia back then. I think I would have voted for Joe Biden (perhaps) if given that opportunity, though he did drop out after plagiarism charges.

I did vote for Michael Dukakis in the general election though. When informing my since deceased uncle Omer Bati, an Istanbul lawyer, of this at his residence in the suburb of Yesilyurt, he did in fact (more or less) threaten to throw me off the balcony!

For those who don't get the joke, Dukakis was a Greek-American. Turks are the traditional rivals of the Greeks, but we get along quite well these days. Let's just hope their soccer teams don't meet in the next World Cup!

Incidentally, this entry is NOT an endorsement. If I lived in Akron or Providence, I would be voting for Hillary tomorrow. Wasn't she great on "Saturday Night Live?" Well, of course, no one would ever vote for someone for such a superficial reason.....at least, not in America:)

We will have complete coverage of the primaries tomorrow, which also happens to be my 38th birthday.

Useful Links:

http://www.time.com

http://www.washingtonpost.com

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