Evidence is mounting that Sarah Palin is making an impact on young voters. While it’s not clear whether he selection changed anyone’s mind about the candidates, she seems to have emboldened those who already favored McCain to speak out.
Gallup data has shown for months that about a third of 18-24 year old voters are for McCain. However, youthful McCain supporters have been, at least until now, less passionate about their candidate than Obama supporters. A quick glance at the candidates’ friends tallies on Facebook shows Obama leading that ‘race’ by nearly a million friends. However, Sarah Palin has already gathered two-thirds as many friends as McCain. Nancy Meinhardt of Miami, wrote on her ‘wall’ on August 30, “I think that Sarah Palin is a great choice. McCain was not my 1st choice but after seeing his choice for VP I am sold and ready to work full time on his campaign.”
The Wall Street Journal, in an article titled “Palin’s Entry Gives GOP Ticket Shot at Capturing the Youth Vote“, reports that 32% of 18-34 year old voters say that McCain’s choice of a running mate makes them more likely to vote for him, compared to just 17% who say the same thing of Obama’s running mate choice. The Journal goes on to say that Palin makes supporting McCain ‘cool’ — or at least less uncool:
“She reminds me of my friends”, said Allyson Wartick, 20, a sophomore at the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. Just two weeks ago, the mood on campus “was definitely, ‘Obama is the cool place to be,'” said Jennifer Kacerosky, 21, senior a the University of Florida. This past weekend, though, she went to a football game sporting a McCain-Palin button, and “it was, ‘Where’d you get that? I need that!'”
What makes Palin appealing to Millennials? Here are some hypotheses:
First, Sarah is an overnight celebrity and Millennials relate to that — after all they have grown up believing anyone with talent can become a star (see earlier post “I want to be a star” for more on that subject).
Second, it may be that Palin reminds Millennials of their Moms. This generation is remarkable for its good relationships with their parents, they respect what their Moms have accomplished.
Another hypothesis is her social conservatism is appealing, at least to some young voters. Pew says 46% of 18-30 year olds believe abortion should be banned or limited.
Maybe it’s because, at 44, Sarah is young herself. Her achievements don’t seem that out of reach, and her particular brand of feminism, which features life-work balance, is in sync with young women’s own aspirations for having it all – marriage, family and career.
Whatever the reason, the Sarah factor has made predictions of Obama’s lock on the youth vote a little less certain.
