First-time voters are ready to run with opportunity

By Derrick DePledge
Advertiser Education Writer

Krista Scott lives in Hai'ku, Maui, which is about as far as you can get in distance and attitude from frigid New Hampshire or Iowa. But the senior at King Kekaulike High School had a lot in common with voters who sorted through the Democratic presidential contenders in the nation's first primary and caucus.

Desiree Almodova

Elaine Kamanawa

Fayez Rumi

Krista Scott

Her friends, like many young people nationwide, don't exactly share her interest. "I don't think it's really hit them yet that in November we're going to be able to vote," she said.

Young people are the least likely of any age group to vote, despite years of appeals from pop stars, actors, educators and politicians that their vote can make a difference.

This year, young people are again considered a potential swing vote in what could be another close presidential election, but many remain detached from politics.

During the next several months, The Advertiser will talk with Scott and three other high school seniors in Hawai'i who have the opportunity to vote for the first time this year. What issues do they care about? Which presidential candidates move them? And what will persuade them to vote?

Voter participation has declined nationally during the past generation, as people have grown more cynical about politics and disconnected from civic life. In Hawai'i, voter turnout declined from 93 percent of registered voters in 1960, the first presidential election after statehood, to 58 percent in 2000.

Turnout among young people nationally has steadily declined since 1972, the first presidential election after 18-year-olds won the right to vote, and less than a third of 18- to 24-year-olds voted in the 2000 elections.

"It's something, I think, that we as a society have to work on," said Dwayne Yoshina, the state's chief elections officer. "We have to capture their imagination."

Teenagers can register to vote in Hawai'i at 16, an attempt by the state to get an early start on what Yoshina and others view as a lifelong commitment. The state will send voter registration packets to high school seniors this year with letters reminding them of the right, and privilege, to vote.

But many young people don't see it that way.

With pressures to get through college, find a job or figure out what to do with their lives, many young people simply don't see the connection between what happens in election campaigns and anything urgent or meaningful.

"This year, I'm kind of into politics. But most people I know aren't really into it," said Elaine Kamanawa, a senior at Nanakuli High & Intermediate School.

The presidential nominating process is also not inviting unless you live in one of the key primary or caucus states. Early tests in New Hampshire and Iowa have narrowed the field of Democrats and placed Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry in the lead, and the results of contests in seven states tomorrow could solidify Kerry as the favorite.

Hawai'i doesn't hold a presidential primary and its distance from the Mainland makes it rare for candidates to campaign in the Islands. The state has solidly supported Democrats in presidential elections since statehood, with Richard Nixon in 1972 and Ronald Reagan in 1984 as Republican exceptions.

Hawai'i Democrats will hold statewide caucuses Feb. 24 to determine how 20 of 29 delegates to the party's national convention this summer in Boston will vote for the party's presidential nominee. Nine of the delegates, party leaders and the Hawai'i congressional delegation, are free to vote as they wish.

Six candidates — Kerry, former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, retired Gen. Wesley Clark, Connecticut Sen. Joseph Lieberman and Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich — have filed to run in the caucuses, but only Kucinich, a longshot struggling to remain viable, has made a campaign appearance in Hawai'i.

President Bush attended fund-raisers here during a brief stopover in October.

Fayez Rumi, a senior at Saint Louis School, said he had not heard of the upcoming Hawai'i caucuses, which have received only marginal attention from the local news media. He said he didn't expect Kerry to win in

New Hampshire but said he thinks Kerry may have the best chance against Bush.

"I think we will see another candidate come out on top in the South," Rumi predicted.

Scott hopes to participate in the Hawai'i caucuses and said she is excited by indications from New Hampshire and Iowa that young people and other new voters do seem to be getting involved.

"The youth of today is going to take our nation by storm and prove to the rest of the country that we may be young but our voices do count, and we are making a difference every day," Scott said.

Rumi, like Scott and the other students interviewed by The Advertiser, has not yet settled on a candidate, or even a political party. Their first vote for president, if they follow through in November, could shape how they look at politics as they grow older.

Young people are more likely to be influenced by their parents and friends when it comes to politics, surveys have found, but first-time voters also have an independent streak. "They haven't really swayed me one way or the other," Scott said of her parents. "But we've had a lot of heated discussions around the dinner table.

"Ultimately, they said, the decision is yours."

"My family is Republican," said Desiree Almodova, a senior at Kailua High School who will seriously consider President Bush but is leaving her options open. "I'm just starting to look at the candidates. I want to see what the Democrats have now compared to what Al Gore had four years ago."

Kamanawa's mother is a Republican, she said, but has not tried to win her over. "I'm trying to listen," she said. "I'm open right now."

They all want to pay attention to the campaign, but it's not always easy. High school and pressure to get to college are priorities, and their time is also crowded with other activities or part-time jobs. Scott plays volleyball and is taking political science and journalism classes at Maui Community College. Kamanawa works at Ihilani Resort and Spa. Rumi maintains a Web site. Almodova works at Island Snow.

Among friends, talk of presidential politics rarely comes up, so they have to go out of their way to learn about the candidates and the issues. "It's not something I think about in my free time or anything," Rumi said. "But I am interested."

The students mentioned the economy and education as issues that concern them, something they share with many early primary and caucus voters. "I honestly think we need to strengthen our economy and our job market," Scott said.

Almodova, who said many of her friends attend private schools, is interested in whether federal education policies will lead to better-quality teachers and other improvements at public schools.

Rumi believes President Bush's description of the federal No Child Left Behind law, which requires that students be proficient in core subjects by 2014, has not reflected the difficulty many public schools are having in meeting the requirements. The president has said that schools have the money to comply with the law, while other administration officials have suggested that principals and teachers are bristling about being held accountable.

"He sort of makes it seem a lot simpler than it really is," Rumi said.

Their thoughts and conclusions about the war with Iraq may also have a significant influence on their final choice, because they are close in age to many soldiers involved in the conflict. Exit polls from New Hampshire and Iowa found that domestic issues such as the economy and healthcare are scoring higher with voters than the war, but Iraq will likely be a major theme of the campaign once a Democratic nominee is chosen and squares off with Bush.

Rumi, who attended a world youth congress last summer in Morocco, said he wished the United Nations had a larger role in Iraq. He said the experience gave him perspective about working with people from different countries and an idea of what the United Nations might accomplish if given the chance.

"I didn't think he had good enough reasons," Rumi said of Bush's decision to invade Iraq without broader international support.

Scott, who was involved in a model U.N. conference in December in New York, said she would have preferred a nonviolent solution. "I guess I would look for a candidate that would have looked a little more at peace," she said.

Almodova said Bush did the right thing in Iraq and believes that the removal and capture of Saddam Hussein means the United States has "one less person we have to worry about."

But she has more conflicted feelings about the effect of the war on soldiers and their families. She looked forward to a friend in the military coming home and attending her graduation. Now, it looks like he may not make it back in time.

"He was told that he had to stay another six months," Almodova said. "I thought it was unfair."

Reach Derrick DePledge at 525-8084 or ddepledge@honoluluadvertiser.com.

Correction: The Hawai'i Democratic caucuses on Feb. 24 will determine how 20 of 29 delegates to the party's national convention will vote for the party's presidential nominee. Nine of the delegates, party leaders and the Hawai'i congressional delegation, are free to vote as they wish. A previous version of this story was not clear on the breakdown.