Obama, Palin, and Young Evangelicals
Here on Future Majority we have talked about the new school of evangelicals, the political shift of young evangelicals, and Obama's young evangelical outreach. McCain's choice of Sarah Palin as his running mate has reinvigorated the discussion of what is going to happen with young evangelical voters.
Obama's relative strength with young evangelicals was causing a lot of distress among the crazy conservative elder evangelicals. An article on Jusiper quoting one of these evangelicals shows just how freaked out they are:
This generation is not the "Joshua" generation, it is the "Judas" generation. They are not Christians, they are devils. The Church should hang its' head in shame that we have produced generation after generation of apostates who have disgraced the name of Christ by sniffing after devils like Obama like animals in rutting season. Fortunately, our Lord is a mighty God who can conquer Satan and these minions of his regardless of how few true believers remain.
Young evangelicals haven't been lock-step with their older counterparts. Surveys have shown young evangelicals as more accepting of homosexuality, and that they are not single-issue voters on abortion issues, but also are concerned about the war in Iraq and social justice.
McCain's selection of Sarah Palin was supposed to energize the evangelical base, seeing as though she believes that a few thousand years ago people were dinosaur hunting instead of moose hunting, yet it appears that the reaction of young voters to Palin is mixed.
It seems that young evangelicals are starting to split into three camps, similar to the philosophical split of the country: conservative, progressive, and moderate. While the conservative evangelical youth are more excited about the Republican ticket with Palin, the progressive-leaning evangelicals aren't nearly as impressed. To them, Palin's selection undercut McCain's claim to be "country first" and independent-minded.
One of the wild-cards being talked about is the effect that Bristol Palin's pregnancy will have on young voters. Some think that it will help young voters relate to the ticket, which frankly I think is stupid. I think a possibility is that young evangelicals who have actually remained abstinate may be turned off by it.
The point is that even with Palin on the ticket Obama has a good chance at pulling a significant portion of the young evangelical vote. With McCain effectively giving up on young voters and Obama doing significant outreach to both youth and evangelicals, we have the opportunity to succeed by putting in superior effort.
What are your thoughts on Palin's effect on the evangelical youth vote? Share in the comments.
2008 Youth Vote in Context
The following charts and graphs are meant to contextualize the unique role that young voters played in the 2008 election, and their increasingly important role in a winning electoral coalition:
2008 Youth Electoral Map

2004 Youth Electoral Map

Youth Vote Partisan Advantage: 2000 - 2008

Youth Vote Historical Support: 1976 - 2008

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Although I miss voting in
Although I miss voting in this crazy election by less than 6 months; I place myself in the youth evangelical demographic that you've mentioned in this post. I guess those conservatives would label me as another misguided Christian who needs lots of prayer because I believe unborn babies should die; etc.
It's not that I want unborn babies to die or any of the other things they always reiterate -- it's the matter that there are way more important issues than abortion/homosexuality/same-sex marriage. I totally agree on how Iraq/economy/social justice issues overpower these moral issues. To add the religious bit; as a human being - what right do we have to judge other people on their sins - it's so elitist and bigoted of these conservative evangelicals to say such things. I think my question is, "what right do you have?"
But to get on to the question you posed out -- I think Palin will have mixed-reactions from the youth vote. I think we're a little more cynical of the candidates out there; no matter who we choose -- it's still very hard to believe any single candidate can do the change we desire in the American government. From the liberal end; I think Palin is simply a scare force to reckon with. She's got charisma, and the means to rev up her support but when you look at her issues and policies -- the fundamentalist strict values are way too extreme. Okay, so certain parts of America wants to revert back to when America wasn't as "loose" or "immoral." I don't thing going back to the past can be effective -- yes, maybe there can be reforms to dampen on "immorality," but it's definitely needs to be a new way to do it.
Thanks for your comment.
It's good to hear your perspective on the election.