Gulf High teens cherish access to the ballot box

By RONNIE BLAIR

NEW PORT RICHEY - Joshua Smith hoped with all his might that he had mail.

About two weeks after his 18th birthday in August, the Gulf High School senior registered to vote. Then he waited eagerly for the day a mail carrier would trundle down the street bearing an envelope with his voter identification card.

"Every day, I went out to the mailbox waiting for the card to come in,'' Smith said.

One day he opened the mailbox, pulled out that special delivery from the Pasco County Supervisor of Elections Office and shouted the good news to his grandmother.

Now he can't wait for the next step, voting.

"It will be awesome,'' Smith said.

Young voters as a group have a reputation for political apathy. They are less likely than older residents to register to vote or to bother to cast a ballot when they do register.

Smith, president of the Gulf High Teenage Republican Club, is among the exceptions who already feel passionate about exercising their constitutional rights under the 26th Amendment once they reach legal voting age.

Sean Chase is another.

He is Smith's counterpart at Gulf High, serving as president of the school's Young Democrats.

Chase said his parents always took an interest in politics, but he paid little attention until the presidential election of 2000, when he was an eighth-grader.

2000 Election Fallout

That tight race between George Bush and Al Gore roused his attention, especially since Florida played such a crucial role in the disputed election, which wasn't decided until several weeks after Election Day.

In ninth grade, Chase's interest in civic matters began to blossom, and by 10th grade, political mania enveloped him.

"I totally absorbed myself,'' Chase said.

He looks forward to his first opportunity to vote but plans to keep it low-key.

"I`m not going to make it too much of a big deal for myself,'' Chase said. "Yes, it's important, but I have several opportunities to do it. I'm not going to take it for granted, but I don't get too carried away with, `Yeah, I can vote now.' ''

Chase, whose first presidential vote will go to Sen. John Kerry, said the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are among the issues most important to him.

He also is concerned about jobs being sent overseas, which he said happened with a company that employed his father.

"The issue that disturbs me most is George Bush has totally destroyed America's reputation,'' Chase said.

Smith, who keeps President Bush campaign signs in his bedroom, said one reason he leans Republican is the party's views more closely match his religious faith.

He also takes a skeptical view of welfare and believes Republicans are tougher on that issue than Democrats.

"People say the Republicans are for the rich,'' Smith said. "But the rich make their own life. I don't think you can milk other people's success.''

Chase and Smith view it as a puzzle that more of their classmates don't share their excitement about politics.

"A lot of them don't care about what's going on outside their world,'' Chase said.

They're Tuning In

There might not be as much apathy among young people this year as in 2000, according to a poll conducted in September by the Pew Research Center.

The poll results show 57 percent of those under age 30 say they are giving a lot of thought to the upcoming election.

That compares with 41 percent of young people who said that at this stage four years ago and 44 percent in 1996, the Pew Research Center reported.

Compare that with figures for people 30 and older: More than 70 percent of older Americans say they are giving a great deal of thought to the election this year, the center says.

Also, 58 percent of those younger than 30 say they are registered to vote, compared with 76 percent of those ages 30 to 49, 85 percent of those ages 50 to 64 and 83 percent of those 65 or older.

Don't Vote? Don't Complain

In some cases, Smith said, young people might be lukewarm toward politics because they are trying to decide what it is they believe.

He has urged other students to go on the Internet and research candidates' positions and create a checklist to see how that matches up with the teens' views.

"If you don't vote, I don't want to hear you complain,'' he said.

Chase expects life experiences one day will force many of those disinterested young people to begin paying closer attention to government.

"When we have our class reunion and they're sitting there complaining about the stupid president charging taxes or that we're at war, that will be the best day of my life,'' he said.

"Those will be the same people who told me I was an idiot for worrying about something that doesn't affect us.''