Return of the youth
AT the Travis County High School polling station, Gini Bibicato, 19, came with three friends in the afternoon to vote. “We are here for Obama,” said Gini. Another girl gushed over how the Democrat was “charming”, “fresh” and “full of ideas”.
Here was this much talked-about phenomenon in this American election—the return of the youth to politics, reminiscent of the John F Kennedy era in the 1960s and Bill Clinton’s spell on them in his first stint in 1992.
Bill Clinton had managed to cast the same magic spell on youngsters, according to Mark Strama, a Democratic Member of State Legislature. In 1992, Clinton played saxophones on late night talk shows and participated in MTV news to reach out to the youth successfully.
Strama had an interesting take on how Bill Clinton and the young generation parted ways. As President of the United States, Clinton wanted to “stay in touch” with the youth and so went to a Town Hall meeting on MTV to take questions from young audience. “A woman asked him whether he wore boxers or briefs. He said something, but there was a lot of negative publicity about it. It was considered very un-Presidential,” said Strama, adding that it was the beginning of the end of President Clinton’s affair with the youth and he kept away from them in the next polls.
Now it’s Obama who is getting youth support. He opened a satellite campaign office in the University of Texas campus in Austin where youngsters could go and make calls to people seeking their votes for him. Many of them became volunteers going out on city squares to spread his message.
According to Christian Clarke Casarez of the College of Liberal Arts, University of Texas at Austin, Obama had a future vision which drew the youth into the political process, the way Kennedy and Bill Clinton had done. “These young people don’t have the baggage of political history. The young relate to Obama as he talks about the future, about hope and change,” said Casarez.
Republican Party of Texas Chairman Tina Benkiser conceded Obama’s appeal among the youth and the fact that he had managed to draw in new voters. But, she said, it is not enough for him to challenge John McCain, who has won enough delegates to be nominated the candidate by the Republican Party. “The Illinois senator has not taken any decision in the legislature. People don’t know where he stands on policies,” said Benkiser of Obama.

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