January 2008

CAMPUS NEWS

AU Student Project Highlights Students’ Views on ’08 Election

Graduate students Caitlin Lukacs and Angel  Todd film and interview a Barack Obama supporter at one of his many rallies  photo by Jodi Westrick

Historically, college campuses have hardly been a reliable source of untapped support for presidential candidates. Citizens age 18 to 24 had both the lowest registration rate (58 percent) and the lowest voter turnout (47 percent) of all age groups for the 2004 presidential election, according to a 2005 press release from the U.S. Census Bureau. But a recent survey performed by AU students suggests that the turnout of young voters may be on the rise.

Students enrolled in last semester’s Politics and the Media class conducted online interviews with 108 students at 75 colleges and universities around the nation. They found that 96 percent of those surveyed intend to vote in the 2008 presidential election, and that 82 percent are already registered to vote. The results are in contrast to the statistics compiled by the U.S. Census Bureau, but support an apparent trend of increasing turnout, regardless of college enrollment.

In addition to the insight it offered into voter turnout, the survey also questioned participants on their political orientation, candidate preference, and views regarding certain issues relevant to the current presidential race.

As a whole, the group was primarily liberal, with 48 percent of the sample identifying themselves as such. Thirty-four percent identified themselves as moderate, and 20 percent as conservative.

Barack Obama led as the sample’s most preferred candidate, with 27 percent saying they would vote for him if the election were held today. Hillary Clinton placed second with 18 percent, and John Edwards, who was the only other Democratic candidate named by respondents, earned 5 percent.

Students cover a Rudy Giuliani campaign event in New Hampshire   photo by Glenn Luther

Among Republican candidates, Rudy Giuliani led with 6 percent, followed by Mike Huckabee with 5 percent. Ron Paul, who has earned a considerable following on the Web and among young people, came in third with 4 percent.

Forty-two percent said that they consider the Iraq War the most important issue from a national perspective, making it the largest consensus among the group. Seventy-six percent favor same-sex marriage; 27 percent consider themselves pro-life; and 81 percent said health care is a relevant issue to them, personally.

The respondents, ages 18 to 24, were chosen to be roughly proportionate to the 2004 census of college students in the areas of gender, ethnicity, and geographic region. They were interviewed via e-mail and asked to complete a Web-based survey application. The survey was not designed to be representative of all college students and the results cannot be generalized beyond the 108 students who participated.

Politics and the Media is a class offered through AU’s School of Communication (SOC). Last semester’s course was taught by Associate Professor of Journalism Jane Hall, who also is a regular contributor to Fox News. Consultants for the survey were Jon Cohen, polling director for the Washington Post, Dotty Lynch, political consultant for CBS News and executive in residence at SOC, and Maria Ivancin, assistant professor of public communication.

SOC students enrolled in the newly offered course, Special Topics in News Media: Covering the 2008 Presidential Election, recently returned from a five-day trip to New Hampshire, covering the state’s primary. During their stay, they interviewed candidates and their supporters, attended rallies, and filmed a number of events sponsored by the candidates themselves.

-Mike Reid ’09

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