The College Fix

In 2008 Virginia went blue for the Presidential candidate for the first time since 1964. Unprecedented student turnout in places like Williamsburg, Va. drove the electoral surge. In fact, Williamsburg saw one of the largest percentage increases of registered voters in the Commonwealth.

But in 2010, voter turnout will likely drop, as students’ love for Obama cools.

A survey of young Americans’ attitudes towards politics and public service by Harvard University’s Institute of Politics conducted from September 24 to October 4, found that approval of President Obama among Millennials dropped below 50 percent for the first time. Young voters overwhelming favored the Democrat in the 2008 presidential contest.

William & Mary student Tessa Raebeck volunteered for the Obama campaign in 2008 by calling voters and going door to door with flyers and voting information — but now, she feels differently.

“I’m particularly dissatisfied with the 180 Obama seems to have made in regards to privacy, constitutional rights and civil liberties,” she said. “In direct opposition to his campaign promises, he has failed to protect the internet from a corporate takeover by ensuring net neutrality through the FCC, he has continued to outsource torture and ignore habeas corpus, he has continued the Patriot Act, and he’s left 35,000 troops in Iraq and sent more to Afghanistan.”

The Harvard report, which was released on October 21, also stated, “A generation marked earlier this decade by their community spirit and optimism seems on the brink of a despair similar to their parents’, grandparents’, and millions of dissatisfied older voters.”

“After blindly trusting many of Obama’s campaign promises and being let down,” Raebeck said, “I am less enthusiastic about politicians in general.” She will, however, still vote this Election Day.

Only 18 percent of respondents said the nation as a whole was on the right track, a five-percentage-point drop from a year ago. Thirty-nine percent said the country was on the wrong track, with 41 percent saying they were unsure.

Jesse Vassold, a transgender student involved in campus activism, voiced similar opinions.

“I’ve been really disappointed with his handling of LGBTQ issues on a national scale,” he said.

He said he is not excited about the election, but will head to the polls “not to support the best candidate, but to deter the worst.”

College Republican leader John Michael King has seen slowdown of liberal activism on campus.

“I think conservative activism has really ramped up, especially with how unpopular the president and Congress currently are,” he said. “In 2008 the opposite was true.  You couldn’t walk ten feet without seeing another obnoxious Obama sticker and the conservative energy was not high.”

Among eligible voters under the age of 30 who were surveyed for the Harvard poll, only 27 percent said they will “definitely be voting” in this fall’s elections, a drop of nine percentage points from a similar poll conducted in November 2009. Sixteen percent of respondents said they would “probably be voting,” and 21 percent said the chances were “50-50.”

Other recent polling has reached similar conclusions. AP/mtvU poll says 44 percent of Americans aged 18-24 approve of Obama’s job performance, while 27 percent disapprove. That’s a marked shift from the results of the same poll in May 2009 when 60 percent approved and only 15 percent disapproved.

Echoing these statistics, Avi Hockfield, a democrat who feels Obama has not fulfilled his promise of change, will not be casting her vote in this year’s midterm election, comparing the current political climate on campus to last spring’s city council election.

“The atmosphere around campus was so full of life surrounding the [City Council] election,” she said. “This election, the political energy is much less motivated.”

Student voter turnout had an even greater impact last spring when approximately 1,050 William and Mary students voted in the City Council election, amounting to 39% of the total vote. Overall turnout in Williamsburg for the City Council election broke Williamsburg’s prior record of turnout, formed in the 2008 general election, by over 2,000 votes.

President Obama has been pushing college students to get out and vote this midterm election. In his Daily Show appearance last week, the president made a plug for voting.

The President urged, “Go out there and vote November 2nd. A lot of you have early voting in your states; make sure to make use of it.”

“It seems clear that voter turnout will be lower this year, and there’s no reason to suggest why young people will buck that trend,” said Beau Wright, the campaign coordinator for William & Mary’s College Democrats. “But the more important question is: should they come out to vote? The answer is yes. Our country’s government functions the best when people are informed and vote.”

Student turnout will be essential for Democratic candidate Krystal Ball, a 28 year-old self-titled “outsider” hoping to oust Republican Rob Wittman of Virginia’s 1st District. As of Monday, Congressman Wittman is forecasted to win with 60.2 percent of the vote.

Sarah Nadler is the editor-in-chief for the Virginia Informer. She is a member of the Student Free Press Association.

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