As election approaches students lean left

As the 2008 election approaches, young Americans appear to be more liberal than they are conservative, and lean more to the left than the population as a whole.

Fifty-four percent of Americans age 17 to 29 say they intend to vote for a Democrat for president in 2008, according to a June New York Times/CBS News/MTV poll.

In the poll, 28 percent of young Americans described themselves as liberal, compared with 20 percent of the general public, and 27 percent called themselves conservative, compared with 32 percent of the population at large.

Young Americans are also more likely than the general population to favor government-sponsored universal health insurance, an open-door immigration policy and the legalization of gay marriage, the poll concluded.

Students tuned in to politics at Penn and across the Ivy League generally agreed with the poll, and said candidates who cater to young voters have much to gain in 2008.

"Generally, people are very accepting of new ideas and the liberal ideas that this poll was asking about . it seems to me, people our age generally support," said Clayton Robinson, a rising Wharton junior and Penn Democrats president.

Zac Byer, president of the Penn College Republicans and a rising College sophomore, agreed, saying that young Americans are "absolutely" more liberal than conservative. He said that happens because topics such as abortion rights and gay rights are often more important to young people than issues like low taxes or family values.

"At this age, people aren't paying big taxes or supporting families, and those are issues that are important to Republicans in this country," he said. "It's a lot easier to go out and be involved in the liberal movements."

And at Penn, the numbers support the liberals: The Penn Dems report about 200 to 250 active members, while the College Republicans count about 30 to 40 active members.

The poll found that young Americans were enthusiastic about only two presidential candidates: Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, both Democrats.

Tendencies among young people to support diversity have contributed to the popularity of Clinton and Obama, said Diana Owen, director of the American Studies program at Georgetown University.

"This is the most diverse generation in history, and they're drawn to non-traditional candidates," she said. Clinton, if elected, would be the nation's first female president and Obama would be the first black president.

And young Americans are already paying attention to the elections: 58 percent of those polled said they were following the presidential campaign, and 77 percent said they believed voters from their age group would greatly influence the election.

"I think it says a lot about our generation's desire to affect change," Robinson said. "Democrats at Penn are really interested in getting behind candidates who are going to take a pragmatic approach to change."

Jeff Kwong, a rising junior at Harvard University and the president of the Harvard Republican Club, said Democrats have taken the lead in gaining youth support due to their positions on issues like gay marriage and global warming. He added, though, that a "moderate, liberal Republican" candidate like Rudy Giuliani, who has supported civil unions for same-sex couples, could draw youth to the party in 2008.

Candidates from all parties who respond to issues important to young Americans can attract youth voters, said Lauralynn Drury, co-chairwoman of the non-partisan group Penn Leads the Vote and a rising College senior.

In an e-mail, she cited Iraq, student loans and higher education as key concerns.

Those concerns change over time, and influence young Americans' political views, said Eric Kafka, a rising senior at Yale University and president of the Yale College Democrats.

"If your first memories of politics are of Reagan and the Cold War ending, you might tend to be more conservative," he said. Today, Kafka said, issues like the budget deficit, Iraq and the number of people without health insurance cause young people to lean to the left.

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