The Voting & Political Views of Students

College students today are usually concerned with typical things for their age and status. These are generally things such as grades and parties, jobs and money. However, are college students concerned with the world around them? Politics in particular, since we have reached another election year. Since the right to vote arrived with their eighteenth birthday, are students taking the opportunity to make sure they're registered, listening to the candidate’s issues, and most importantly, will they actually go out and vote on Tuesday, November 4?

Student’s ideas and beliefs concerning politics often begin in the most obvious of places, their home. As you grow older, you begin to understand how your parents view the world, what they think is right and wrong, and even what political party they're affiliated with. “My parents are fairly conservative, but I’ve always been more of a liberal thinker,” said Blake Brunson, a senior majoring in Art History. Brunson also added that although she was raised in a Southern Baptist household, she had more secular views of religion that influenced her political views, even though she claims herself to not be affiliated with any political party. However, she plans to vote for Clinton should she get the democratic nomination.

And if you do adopt your parents political views while still at home, is it possible for your views to change once you go away to college? “I was raised by conservative to moderate parents, but when I came to college, I began to lean a little more toward the left,” said Sarah Meginniss, a senior majoring in English. Some people consider educated people to be more liberal than conservative, but Meginniss says she isn’t really buying into that, saying that she has always respected her parent’s views, and that they sometimes even influence the way she chooses to vote. Meginnis plans to vote for Obama in the upcoming election.

For many students, November will be the first time they vote. This election has captured the interest of many young people, and for many reasons. “I really took an interest to the elections this year, and I think it’s because the candidates are actually taking the time to listen to what young people have to say, I especially liked the YouTube debates,” said Richard Caples, a senior majoring in Finance. Caples says that reaching out to young people in a way that will spark their interest will make young people more likely to go out and vote for a particular candidate.

The Alabama primary was held February 5, on Super Tuesday. Some students say that they are overall confused about the point of the primaries, so they didn’t bother going out to vote. “I’m going to vote in November, but I don’t understand why my vote matters in the primary anyways, so I just decided to wait until the actual election,” said Sarah Halliday, a senior majoring in Restaurant and Hospitality Management. Halliday says that she plans to vote for John McCain, the Republican nominee.

Another issue that arises from Super Tuesday is if the original candidate you support chooses to stay in the race or not. “I had supported Mike Huckabee from the very beginning, but since he dropped out, I’m backing McCain in November,” said Kevin McAbee, a senior majoring in Marketing. McAbee says that changing candidates wasn’t that difficult since he knew he would support the Republican nominee no matter what.

No matter what student’s political upbringing, their political party affiliation today or whether or not they voted in the primary, students will have the option that comes only once every four years of fulfilling their civic duty at the polls this November.