With today's, what are young people thinking? To go one step further, what do young people think about the vice presidential candidates? Does their opinion of the vice presidential candidate influence who they will vote for? The vice president plays a major role. If something was to happen to the president he or she would be in charge.

Three George Mason University seniors helped answer these questions. Elizabeth, 21, is a senior majoring in marketing. Jena 22, is also a senior, and is majoring in Health Science. Brittany, 21, is a senior majoring in Communication with a concentration in Public Relations. All three young women are planning on voting in the upcoming Presidential elections. When asked how her political views were shaped Elizabeth said, “My political views were initially formed based on my parents political views but since they divorced and have different opinions on everything I decided that I needed to learn about each political party and candidate on my own.”

Jena had a similar story saying that her political views were influenced the most by the views that her parents held. As well as Brittany who said that, “My political views were shaped mostly by family, but they continue developing as I grow older.”

Brittany watched all the presidential debates. Elizabeth and Jena both watched some of the debates. When asked, what issues the candidates debate appeal to you as a young voter Elizabeth said, “Issues that will affects us in the long run and out families now like health care and equal pay for women.”

Jena had a very similar response, “My biggest concern is health care and the economy.”

Brittany said the issues that she cares the most about are universal healthcare, abortion and gun programs.

But how much did the debates themselves change who people are going to vote for? Elizabeth said, “Listening to John McCain and Brack Obama when they came to our school changed my opinions more than the debates. I was really only torn on who to vote for in the primary.”

Jena said that thought she watched the debates they didn’t persuade her to feel one way or the other. The message here seems that the candidates need to do something to reach out to the young voters.

Brittany, however, did have a change of opinion after watching all of the presidential debates.

When I researched what the candidates are doing to reach young voters I found more results for 2004. One site told that, “John McCain and Barack Obama have each prepared special July 4th video messages in honor of our young troops that will air exclusively on MTV2.” Recent MTV research shows that 70% of young adults 18 to 29 personally know someone who has fought in Iraq, The Web site polichicksonline.com describes itself as, “The It Girl's Guide to Politics (just enough to get by at a party).”

These findings and responses are disappointing. It just seems that the candidates aren’t reaching far enough out to young voters. The results could be detrimental to what both candidates are trying to accomplish.

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