Young Blacks "the Most Ready to Vote for Change"

Photo credit: Derell Smith/the Hilltop Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., told Howard University students they should be concerned about national security issues. "Go out and connect the dots," he said.

By Vanessa Mizell
Black College Wire

Young black voters have placed domestic issues as their top concern, higher than the war in Iraq, according to a poll keyed to the November midterm elections.

The study by Young Voter Strategies, an organization affiliated with George Washington University, found that employment, the economy and education and its costs weighed heavily for 35 percent of black voters ages 18 to 30. When voters of all races in the age group were counted, 30 percent said the economy was the prime concern.

The poll also found that young black voters and their counterparts said candidates were not speaking enough about issues relevant to their demographic. Young voters of all races wanted to hear more about health care, job creation, college affordability, energy prices and homeland security. Job creation ranked slightly higher than college affordability within the black voting group. Among these voters, job creation ranked 8.8 on a 10 point scale; more than the 6.8 in the overall ranking.

African Americans also stood out in other findings of the poll, released Sept. 20. Eighty-five percent said they were registered, compared with 80 percent overall. Young blacks were rated the group most enthused about the elections and the strongest supporters of the Democrats. More than 60 percent identified as Democrats contrasted with just under 15 percent as Republican. Among young voters overall, 43 percent were Democrat and 22 percent Republican.

Joshua Ulibarri, vice president of Lake Research Partners, which helped conduct the poll, said young blacks' strong enthusiasm for the upcoming election was rooted in frustration about the direction of the country.

"Young African Americans are the most ready to vote for change," Ulibarri said. "There's a growing frustration with the president and they are the most disappointed in the direction of the country."

Nearly half the young black voters said they were against the Bush administration's handling of the war in Iraq, compared with 30 percent of all voters in that age group.

Ulibarri added that universities have been a main target for campaigning and that voter registration teams were working heavily in African American communities.

The findings also foreshadow the war on terror as an Election Day concern for young black voters. The war in Iraq ranked third and homeland security fifth as the issue young black voters wanted to hear more about from politicians.

The poll findings may be good news for such Democrats as Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass. The 2004 Democratic presidential nominee urged Howard University students to become more concerned about national security.

National security "needs to be a concern," Kerry said in an interview after his Sept. 14 speech. "You can't vote the issues one by one. You have to vote all of them." He explained that voting for a candidate supports not just his or her view on domestic issues but on national security as well.

"We need you to go out and connect the dots," Kerry said in the speech. "Join a campaign, talk to a neighbor, defeat the apathy and say, 'I believe in my country."

The president of Howard's College Democrats, Evan Brunson, said then, "I think it's erroneous to think that we should be focused on one issue and not the other," speaking of African Americans. "The fight against terrorism is our fight too."

Of the 500 surveyed in the poll, 12 percent were black, reflecting the African American percentage of the population. An additional 75 blacks were surveyed so the firm could "be more confident in the data," according to Ulibarri.

Vanessa Mizell, a Black College Wire summer intern, is a Howard University student who writes for the Hilltop.

Posted Sept. 28, 2006