What has left-leaning done for Young Voters in the US?

As has been the case, young Americans in the United States over the past 30 years, have, on a pattern, trended Democrat. While this is not the consistent case, this is significant and we have to look as to why. An argument can be made that they are rebelling against their more conservative parents, are easily led by pop culture, changing patterns in education, as well as aggressive teachers and professors who teach (indoctrinate) from a left of center to hard left point of view.

We look back at 2004, young voters talked a good game and stumped for John Kerry, but when push came to shove, Kerry lost and his heavily hyped youth vote did not show up. This tells me two things. First, the only thing that drove them in the campaign was the ABB (Anybody But Bush) vote. Kerry was not the most exciting candidate and they did not feel as though they had a stake in the man, as he was only a vehicle to end Bush's presidency. Second, young voters have historically been unreliable when actually going to the polls. Again, they talk a good game, wear their liberalism and left-leanings on their sleeves, but do not show up when it matters.

Fast forward four years later to 2008. The Youth of America was mesmerized by Barack Obama. We saw the fainting, we saw the chanting, the crying, and we even saw the insane! He said everything from closing Gitmo, to ending torture, to apologizing for America that drove them wild. They bought into him, his agenda, they embraced the hope and change that he would provide them and in many cases, they didn't refer to him as he, but He. Major figures in popular culture, who many of these young Americans closely follow, also endorsed Obama.

Just two short years later, I wonder if many feel the same way. Taxes will soar for them in 2011, as they will be the ones paying for the financially (and just plain choking) health care bill, unemployment rates among America's youth are ridiculously high, legislation from the health care bill, to extended unemployment, to tax hikes, discourages young people from going out on their own making them even further tethered to the government and their hope in Obama is turning to despair.

Analyzing the whole situation, I hope young people realized they were taken advantage of by Obama and the Democrats, as they are now living the consequences of following through on their adulation and awe of a man and his policies before reading up on the history of these policies, realizing that these policies have not worked in the past and will not work in the present in the future. It is my hope that a political leader will emerge and not tell America's youth what he (or she) will do for them, but instead how he (or she) will empower them to discover and hone their strengths in order to become financially successful and independent thinking Americans, who can become leaders in their own right and train tomorrow's leaders to continue the American story.