US holding elections Elec College 100s yrs Only lately youth participating – voting/campaigning Why? I will outline – 3 reasons Mass media has improved all around The news isn’t “lame” or boring any more Popular channels have adapted – Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert Newest news isn’t plain; it’s humor too Even the uninformed have some idea of what’s going on News informs and entertains Candidates know what’s popular Pop culture -> Campaigns Hillary’s Sopranos episode – new campaign song Huckabee’s Chuck Norris ad – quite funny All on Youtube Even debates on Youtube – viewers submit questions in short video form The effect: People associate with the candidates – good and bad Good – people get out and vote for who they feel a connection with More motivated to support candidates “Will.i.am” – Yes We Can, immensely popular – not much to do with ptx Willing to discuss ptx more Bad – people don’t know what their candidate actually means for the country Hillarycare, what else? McCain in the armed forces? Nothing differing from the party stance Leads to empty rhetoric For those three reasons, young voters are more involved The downside – less informed Hopefully, this will come with time I hope I’ve illuminated these reasons Thanks for your time