"it" because it will make america great again. host: nancy is from kentucky, democrat line, hello. caller: thank you for taking my call. i have already voted. speak beforetrump and -- "washington journal" i sat up straight in the bed, i was feeling so frightened, donald trump said, please tell me if someone else heard this or if they did not, he said he was creating another part of the armed forces. mussoliniso much like and the brownshirts. host: we are talking about youth engagement.

what do you think about the youth vote in this midterm election? else willhope someone let me know if they heard that. i am so proud of our youth working as hard as their working, knocking on doors, creating services, driving to and from, and taking a stand, because this is their country. we will be going on and they are taking it over, this will be their world. host: do you think they are motivated this time around as far as voting? caller: i believe so from all i have seen. i pray they are. i pray they have been paying attention to what has been happening because i am worried about our democracy at this point in the game. host: ok. that is nancy in kentucky

calling. on youth engagement. tj on twitter says many kids brains have not developed, many have a democratic mind, what they can get for free without considering someone has to pay for it. it ise on facebook says important to get voters engaged early and teach them how to become informed and educated voters, the midterm present a challenge in that respect. you can read it on our facebook page. lou says youth is a time information. themselves andte never know and state level until they grow up mentally -- and stay liberal until they grow up mentally. you can make thoughts on twitter and facebook as well. this is the idea we are taking on during the course of the

morning, the youth vote and what you think about it. you748-8000 for those of 18-24. between 25 and 49, 202-748-8001. over 50, 202-748-8002. we invited students, a republican and democrat, to talk about various issues leading up to the midterms and they talked about engagement among young people. here is some of that exchange. guest: the argument we are uninformed is not necessarily valid. we are not engaged, that is not valid either because you see people very engaged on social media. you are not wrong about we are not engaged effectively. that has shown by the youth having lower turnout and it is up to us to go to the polls and make sure we have a say in this election. think, of the

people who are informed, they are extremely informed because of the ability to access information, especially with the internet and different resources. i understand there is a lot of reactionary politics on social media with twitter, we experience it all the time, someone tweets something and they get 1000 retweets and it could be misinformation. there are valid points to both sides but i would push back, not to sound simplistic of those who are informed would be considered informed, they have more of a comprehensive knowledge than generations fast. host: this is heather off of facebook who says campuses have knocked on my door twice asking for my 19-year-old twins, i am like, i vote, don't you want to talk to me l,ol. student journalists we will be talking with today and joining

us now is someone with the independent florida alligator, university of florida, serving as their digital managing editor. good morning. guest: good morning, how are you? host: good, thank you for asking, what are you seeing about engagement in this midterm election? guest: the issue on our campus is early voting locations, for four years, it was not allowed because of a florida statute. lawsuit spearheaded a to be an early voting location and for the first time, it is open to the general and we have seen a huge push. host: the move to open that location, would you call that a bipartisan effort? guest: i would, led by a nonpartisan group. other groups have supported it, cause republicans, college

democrats -- college republicans, college democrats. host: when you talk about the parties reaching out to get the youth vote, what are you seeing on campus among republicans, democrats, independents? guest: on our campus, nonpartisan groups, the bob graham foundation, have done that isuge push and leading people more than college republicans and college democrats, we have young americans for freedom's, though they are on campus and do get people to vote, push people to the polls, most of it coming from nonpartisan groups. host: when it comes to issues that students are passionate about leading up to the election, how would you rank those? guest: being in florida with the parkland shooting, we have a huge discussion about gun control on campus. during the shooting, we had

about 200 students graduates of marjory stoneman douglas high school's and 48 students from their came to the university of florida. gun control is a huge discussion on campus and with the pittsburgh shooting, we have a largest jewish population of any college in the nation. there has been a big push around amendment 4 two restore voter rights -- that has been going on longer than the primaries, people have been conditioning for voter felon restoration. att: we saw president obama a rally supporting andrew gillum in the governor's race, how is the governor's race resonating among students? guest: andrew gillum came to our campus the friday before, about 200 or 300 students came out and he marks them to the early voting locations.

that is the day when the voting location had the largest turnout. desantis has not come to campus, shortly after andrew gillam came, there was a red wave rally where our state republican and state senator who are republicans came to campus and about 50-100 students came. ist: another big topic civility, how does that play out on campus and how would you teach civility of the groups that do not agree with each other? guest: one thing the university of florida has structured into the way it goes about politics is that any group that take student government money to get funds, if they put on a political event, make sure both sides are there. if you are the black student union and want to have a debate, you have to give a good faith invite to the college republicans and college democrats. like thesounds

university itself is very engaged in this process. how would you describe that? is theyes, our president superbike -- has been supervisor of elections, promoted early voting, the school has done that , some students making noise for no classes on election day or optional classes but that does not seem to be going forward. host: election coverage next week, what are the plans for your publication? guest: we will go around campus and the county seen what is going on in different voting locations and talking about people in different ages but talking about youth turnout because we are a college publication. host: what role will technology play in the coverage? from: we always live tweet our respective accounts of staff writers and our main account, we may periscope or live tweet, we have taste look like going on and a running page on her website about what is going on and the turnout.

host: do you think engagement with youth will be stronger this time around? guest: i do. some professors are strong in voting research have pointed out there is a higher turnout in early voting. i think, based on what we have seen compared to this year and the previous midterms, i think use voter turnout will be higher. turnoutnk youth voter will be higher. host: tell us about your publication. becamethe alligator independent in 1973, we have no ties to the university. we are one of the largest student run publications in the nations and very proud of it. we have a large staff and work tirelessly to cover the issues that are important. host: what is your major and what are you interested in after you graduate? guest: journalism major and i want to go into the field. i like newspapers, reporting, telling people stories. host: where can people find you

online? guest: i am at twitter. and on our website, the alligator, i have my staff profile. host: that is our guest of the independent florida alligator, how did you get the name of the publication? guest: when we became independent we inserted the word alligator. thank you. host: david is next in hartford, connecticut, republican line, the 25-49-year-old category. caller: good morning, thank you for c-span. great, twopation is years ago, i am a donald trump voter, the question was to: if you could unify this person and i called in and said yes, i agree with nancy, proud of the youth. i like the rock the vote.

i would like to stay -- amongengagement levels young republicans? he hung up. let's go to vivian, tennessee. caller: i am on. host: go ahead. i am calling because i have been voting -- i am pushing 90 years old. i have been voting for quite some time. that i voteo know both democrat and republican. you know that in advance. host: what do you think about younger people voting? caller: i think it is wonderful.

i think they should all vote. up,nt to say today, listen america. in my lifetime, i do not go back to abraham lincoln but in my afetime i have never known former president ever campaigning ever against a sitting president. that has never happened until barack obama. thank you. host: let's go to james in pittsburgh, independent line. caller: good morning, pedro, good morning, america. mister rogers' neighborhood just got attacked by a set -- semi automatic weapon and we still do not have a debate. a terror attack in mr. rogers neighborhood. 11 good people were murdered for

hate. politician but i cannot get on the ballot. we have ridiculous politicians in pittsburgh. host: the topic is the youth vote and youth engagement in this campaign. caller: i am youth, jimmy from pittsburgh, pennsylvania, i grew up in detention centers. i am the youth. i am trying to get into office and you have ridiculous people running for office. teachers who cannot teach kids. nobody out there better than me. host: cal in new york, go ahead. caller: hello and good morning. i was try to not sound like a grumpy old man, complaining about the use but i have -- youth, but i have been having an argument with them politically

going back to the bush years. a lot of my encounters with youth politically happens one-on-one in seminars and meetings and marches, as opposed to social media. i have been arguing and resisting what i have seen as the apathy and confusion of the youth going back to bush. when the rnc was here for the convention in 2004 and i saw major elements of the left collapse and die. asleep the youth fell once obama was elected and did him,ng to sustain or help which is why there is a resurgence allegedly now in youth participation now that everything is collapsing and we are suffering the consequences of all of that previous apathy. i am dismayed that the youthful

energy that started with parkland and other voting initiatives is pointing towards people like joe biden and elizabeth warren, and these fossils that should be replaced by these younger people, but i do not see them politically active. i hear about the blue wave and revolution in the street, it is all over television but one-on-one with people on the street, i see kids staring into their phones. host: you do not think that interest or engagement will translate to votes on election day? caller: i think we are confusing the energy and enthusiasm we are getting from the media from news networks that favor our opinions on the left, from late-night comedy shows, that generates into a lot of enthusiasm but, i

hate to sound cynical, but that enthusiasm, that revolution of the mind, the imaginary mass of social media revolution has not translated into political reality. that is why we are in the mess. host: why'd you think it has not translated? caller: because there is an emotional satisfaction we get from social media and mass media , the way we entertain ourselves about how donald trump is so dumb and racist and homophobic. that translates into a satisfaction of its own that has nothing to do with the satisfaction of actually making things better by participating in the political process. we think it is a political victory when nancy pelosi goes on stephen colbert and proclaims victory. that is almost enough of an emotional rush to sustain us. host: ok, that is cal in new

york calling and giving us his thoughts. new jersey is next, lou. caller: good morning, you have a great show. i am 69 years old, retired schoolteacher, used to be a democrat when i was younger and i became an independent. one of the show's i used to love watching was cnn. wife, you watch the communist channel, fox, but i started to watch both and others. trump got elected and i could cnnbelieve how one-sided became, one of my favorite stations. i started to listen to fox because my wife listen to fox. fourth, andack and i could not believe how

one-sided against the president all of these other stations are. host: aside from that, the idea do youh engagement, what think as far as the young people participating in the election this year? caller: being a schoolteacher for 38 years, i still substitute , one -- one ap course and and, you, i will go in know, i asked, why do you hate trump? the reason the 18-year-olds and 19 euros -- the reasons they give me are off the wall, they say they watch cnn, have you ever watched fox? no. host: you are saying this goes as far media coverage, as the level of participation

you do not see happening? fox,r: fox, and maybe no they watch cnn or the other ones. i jump back and forth. this is our country. apologize only because i want to get to frank in delaware, go ahead. caller: i am calling about the , they are trying to get kids out of school that are 15, 16, 17 years old to vote, that is ridiculous. the liberals are behind it. their party does not know anything. let the high school kids vote because they do not know anything. the youth vote is ridiculous. host: why? caller: because they are young and they do not know about politics. when i was young, i did not know politics, it takes into your

20's before you know what is going on with the parties. be 17, 18, you do not know anything about politics. host: did you participate when you were 18 and could legally vote? caller: they do not have that back then when i was 18. i would not have voted because i did not know anything. look at social media coverage and other coverage as far as education and how inform students are, you do not think that is happening among students? caller: i do not because they have more things on their mind that senators and congressmen and presidents. they do not care about that stuff. host: that is frank in delaware calling on the line for 50 and over. we divided the lines differently, if you are between 18 and 24, 202-748-8000. if you are between the ages of

25 and 49, 202-748-8001. if you are 50 and over, 202-748-8002. when it comes to participation, there is a group effort known as walk out the vote, encouraging students of all ages, voting or otherwise, to get to the polls next tuesday and support those young people who will be voting. here is a promotional video. >> kids may only be 25% of the population but we are 100% the future. >> over 20 youth led organizations have come together to ask high school and college students to walk out of class on election day to march to the polls. demographicple, the 18-24 has shown up to the polls and the smallest percentage of any demographic and the goal is to make sure young people are

showing up to the polls in record number >>. the only age group where the results of the midterm will affect us the next 60 years and we want to make sure we are safe and free, that our children are safe and free from climate change and without violence. -- and gun violence. >> we have walked out throughout the country and states, no matter where you live come in a city or in a rural area or suburb, whether you go to a public or private school, homeschooled, do not have a school, everyone can participate on election day to walk out the vote. our website has information about how you can not only vote on election day, but make sure it is visible and loud and people hear you in your community and in your state and in this country. the truth is, we can march, we can shout, we can walk out, the biggest thing we have to do is vote. you must about. -- you must vote.

♪ host: pablo is next in colorado. you are on. caller: i feel sorry for the young people. i think the baby boomers, my generation, is the most selfish generation that has ever existed on earth. we have transformed it into a cesspool. we have militarized it. takeve let fear of 9/11 advantage of the prison industry. thate they get involved, they figure they can change things. i pray that they do not give up on america. that we continue to do things. as i said, it is the fault of the baby boomers.

a selfish and ration. -- a selfish generation. host: you do not think they will show up this time around? caller: i pray they do, that the young people do not give up. that they say, we will someday be doing this. we had that same thought as baby boomers coming up, we will change things for the better and we did it. did not,e much -- we things are much worse and the midterms are an opportunity to try and correct it. 538 have dones at research with younger voters at midterms. historically, midterm participation, saying to get a sense of the rate which young people have turned up any midterm, they looked at data from the current population survey over the last two decades and the high mark for midterm turnout among 18-29 euros was

2006 when 25.5% of citizens in that age group voted, that was also the last time democrats have a successful midterm cycle. coincidence? maybe not. below plots midterm turnout rates for for aid groups commonly used in a supposed and you can see, young people turnout at sharply lower rate than older americans. the lowest overall rate since the 1942 midterm, turnout among 18-29-year-olds was 20%, the lowest turnout for that group in the past 20 years. more of the research available on 538.com. the story is young voters may actually show up at the polls. florida, thomas, go ahead.

young folks need to turnout. if they do not turnout, it will get worse. host: as far as young people you know, do they plan to vote? caller: i have than talking with my kids. facebook, they are getting information. school,graduated high the kids do not get civics in school these days. that is another plot. you do not teach kids about government. host: what age are your kids? caller: a daughter who is 23 and

another daughter 32, another daughter who is 31. son, when obama came, i took him to the polling place. host: what is the reaction from them when it comes to voting? what is their level of interest from your children and what do they say to you about why or why not they are interested? they see tv, they watched the racism. host: you say your children will participate? caller: every one of them come on facebook, they said, i voted. i am so proud of them. for: gus in ohio, our line 50 and over. go ahead. caller: how are you? host: fine.

caller: you were talking about youth participation. what i have seen is, i go to mcdonald's with my friends for coffee and i talked to younger and i asked them about arer votes, some of them not registered and some do not understand it. they are not really engaged. but they know the issues. i tried to explain to them, boating is important -- voting is important. vote does that their not count. this is the sad part about it. the misinformation they get from the other side because they think the youth vote is for democrats.

one vote equals 100 votes and 100 votes equals 1000 votes. their vote does count. i tried to explain some of the votesvotes, maybe 100 decides the issues. it seems to me that, yes, they say they know how to register and i would give them the phone number and the election board there are probably 60% are not interested -- are interested in voting but the information is not there how to vote, the extractions on how to register -- the instructions on how to register. host: in your engagement with young people, have you gotten them to change their mind about the idea of their vote and if it counts or not?

caller: yes, a lot of the kids are concerned. and jobinimum wage participation, trying to improve themselves. , theyd part about it is are not getting enough encouragement. nobody is out there explaining to them how to register, and -- which direction the country is going. debates interested in and the political side but do not know how to register to vote. i've tried to give them information or try to help them. anduld get their address tried to get the election board to send them information to spread the word. host: david in springfield, virginia. caller: good morning.

host: you are on. caller: thank you for taking my call. -- the youth have sat down so long on the sidelines and damage, with gun violence, they have not participated. i have zero problem with people blaming the media. [indiscernible] media, ile blame the do not understand. host: you said you are glad youth aren't participating? caller: glad they are participating. host: ok. onid giving us his thoughts

youth engagement in campaign 2018. we are talking to student journalists across the united states at colleges and universities. joining us as christian snyder with pitt news at the university of pittsburgh, their editor-in-chief. what is the level of engagement on campus? guest: a busy week in pittsburgh and people are feeling energized , people ready to go to the polls. a lot of active students in pittsburgh, in particular active groups of high school students who have been for the past 1.5 years, since the parkland shooting, driving political engagement in the communities. host: did the events at the synagogue, are making people vote this year? guest: i do not know if it is the first thing on their mind but something people were talking about at the rallies and protests i have been at this week.

discussing hown they are tired of thoughts and prayers and want to do something actionable. people saying this is a big reason you should vote. host: on campus, what is the outrage from republican and democratic groups? guest: a lot of outreach. america,c socialist of democrats and republicans are strong, governor walker was supposed to be working with campaign -- college democrats and the republicans have been a smaller club on campus but are still hosting big-name speakers this year. onre is a lot of action campus but not as much as the 2016 president election but still a lot happening. host: you can see differences between the 2016 election and this time around, what do you think will be the turnout? guest: it may be lower than in

2016, a lot of people were more energized in 2016. i think that is because, someone i spoke to, i reached out to followers and students at pitt and asked which issues are important to them and they said that was one of them, this is not asked an important of an election -- as important of an election. host: what other issues is dunes talk about -- issues do students talk about? guest: lgbtq plus rights are important, especially trans have beens who affected by the news that the trump administration wants to remove the want definitions of definitions ofed gender. corporations in pittsburgh driving growth in specific areas.

i talk to people about you quality and a need and a desire for living wages for everybody. and voter suppression is a reason for people to vote because other people cannot. host: when it comes to students and how they base their opinions on who they vote for, where do you think those pieces of information are coming from, largely social media? guest: a lot of it but most is news through social media. there is talk about where people get their news and students at pitt have great services where we get good news. host: when it comes to the university itself, what is it doing to help students on election day, how involved are they? guest: there have been people tabling every day outside the university trying to register people to vote. there are polling places on campus and across the street from the student union. our chancellor is in touch and

sends us emails on the days leading up to election day. there are a lot of people who think election day should be a federal holiday and their work should be canceled. another reason people said they would not be voting, they have had trouble in the past and it is tough to get to the polls. looking forre you on election day as editor and chief? guest: looking for how many people will vote and how many issues -- and what issues are bring them. for the people who vote, what is important? i think we will see a swell in participation in pittsburgh next week considering the president was here on tuesday and a lot of people were against the president. people supported him as well. it will bring people out. to see how the storylines factor into the election next week. host: describe the scope of

coverage or publication will do on election day? guest: we will be at the polls all day talking to voters before and after. we will go to watch parties and also doing more live coverage in terms of getting information to our followers more quickly. host: tell us about yourself and your hopes after you graduate. guest: i am a senior and i want to continue as a journalist, looking at internships and fellowships and jobs, send me an email. host: how to find your publication online? pittnews.com. host: thank you. those are just some of the to, wes we have talked have divided the phone lines differently, between 18 and 24 years old, call 202-748-8000. if you are between

25 and 49 years old. 202-748-8002 if you are over 50 years old. nick in illinois between 25 and 49 talking about youth engagement in campaign 2018. caller: what is happening, pedro? host: you are on, go ahead, thanks. caller: 2018 is not getting the out. , i was already politically engaged and have been a registered republican since 2012. what is getting me turned up has nothing to do with national come it is local news and local politics in illinois, that is what is getting me out. -- granty life i went city, president trump went there. i heard my whole life, between

these districts, our schools were underfunded. that is good and fine. the problem is, for the most of my life, the democrats in illinois have had control. here i am in school being lied to by democrat teachers who are talking about being underfunded and they blame bush. i literally had teachers blaming everything on bush. our country was $5.7 trillion in debt when bush came in. i have heard my whole life in illinois about republicans, republicans, republicans, even from my own family. i am waiting for someone to give me something from the democrat side, other than taxes, and everything else they champion. i understand we need a taxing system and have to tax the people. i think democrats are unorthodox to say a nicely. host: if everything will be

local for you, how does that play out to the will vote for next tuesday? caller: the guy running for governor, j b pritzker, i do not have to go to the fbi probe, but today was the first time in the entire gubernatorial season in illinois where i heard him say something about bruce talking about we need to stop bruce, it has been we need a firewall against donald trump and night -- need someone to stand up against donald trump, i would like them to explain what president trump did other than paying taxes in illinois, i would like to know what the hell donald trump did to anything politically in illinois. chicago has a 60 member city council, one republican is on that counsel and he was the one apologizing for the gun violence, not rahm emanuel, not

the police chief. the one republican was. host: aside from that, who else will you support? caller: mike babcock. state district, i think 111. i will support mike babcock because monica says unelected official who has never been elected froze our health care by -- rose our health care by 400%, i live in the same was metro and do not understand where monica bristow and the gushy replaced -- the guy he replaced, he stepped down and she got put in madigan, he, mike has the power of the purse. in illinoiss nick talking about local interest.

that orgo as small as the larger health -- house or senate races or governors races. all under the umbrella of youth engagement and what you are thinking about. michael in utica, over 50 years old. just a couple of statements i would like to make about the previous callers. the teacher making the point that people are not looking at facts -- fox news enough. when the majority of people are looking at five or six different news organizations, they come up with an opinion, which is opposed to the fox network opinion. i would think the majority of people are watching the proper news. in regard to the younger people, they are more engaged than ever, more educated than ever, i think the schools are helping educate

them about the voting system and how it works. that, it is a process just as well as older people have trouble hitting to the polls. this is why -- getting to the polls. we need a better voting system where people can safely apply online and get to vote electronically. we do have a problem with the intervention from russia. government system of can hopefully control that aspect of it. until we get a system that is better for everybody to vote, we will have problems. host: that is mike from utica. this is grand prairie, texas, leticia. are you there? caller: yes.

host: you are on. caller: my opinion is the youth are engaged, my daughter who will turn 21 on november 6, her first time voting was during the presidential election. we voted early last week in grand prairie. what i have observed, there were more youth than i expected in line. speaking to my daughter and the other youth, they are very educated on not only national candidates but their local candidates. i see the energy with the youth. i am from the clinton era. i have never seen this energy in youth. they understand what is on , and what is at stake with the midterm. tell me about these conversations and why do you think your daughter is so motivated, what drives her? caller: i was listening to the

previous caller, the system has a lot to do with it, discussing political science classes, something i did not have growing the real-timeieve information contributes to that. i think the issues at stake, they know it will have a direct impact on them currently in their future. that is my observation. host: does she sure your political point of view? guest: she does -- caller: she does. and able toengaged tell me and give me insight on candidates, real-time information on policy. she is very engaged. host: when it comes to getting

information about candidates or policies, where does she get them from and where you get your information? caller: from various sources. dialogue, networking. watching cnn, msnbc. i watched fox news this morning to get a different opinion. -- we are not just one-dimensional or getting information. i tried to convey to her i want you to be open-minded. we look at various different media channels. for the most part i follow msnbc and cnn, as well as online avenues. i network. from various different sources. host: i suppose she has made a decision about the texas senate race.

caller: yes, she has. she educated me on the senator. i was not educated on beto. we did vote for him, but she was the one who has given me insight for,what he was running what was important and why it was important to her. host: leticia telling herstory from grand prairie, texas. we will talk about the idea of youth engagement in campaign 2018, and getting your thoughts on -- if you're a younger voter, a first-time voter, if you fall into the younger brackets about the issues you are concerned about, people you are voting for, what you think the vote turnout will be. the rest of us can participate. if you fall between 18 and 24,

it is (202) 748-8000. and 49are between 25 years old, (202) 748-8001. if you are 50 and over, (202) 748-8002. you can make your thoughts note , and oner at @cspanwj our facebook page. brookings released their analysis leading up to next tuesday. you can find it online at brookings.edu. they say the participation of younger voters will determine the outcome of the upcoming election. 34 million millennials voted in 2016. 25% of votes cast. the baby boomers may have outnumbered them, but the numbers are shifting. while the ranks of the boomers thin out, 8 million more americans are eligible to vote this year than in 2016.

many of these young voters enter with a political agenda. one of their key of sessions is gun control. they laid out the gauntlet earlier when student survivor's health apartment shooting -- survivors of the apartment parkland shooting wanted more than thoughts and prayers. for those 50 and over, this is mike calling us. caller: good morning. -- imment is regarding appreciate the energy of the youth, and i agree as far as the gun rules. wendy to make some changes. however -- we need to make some changes. what the youth could do is have rallies, gatherings against distracted driving. more people are killed by distracted drivers. what we need to do is have them go out, demand people put their phones down when their driving so they are not texting.

there is too much hazard with distracted driving. i think the rallies maybe could help immediately without. we don't need the government for that. let's try to stop distracted driving and unnecessary deaths. do you engage with younger people on the issue of politics? what do you sense about this election coming up? caller: i have not with a number of them. the ones i engage with our may be in their 30's -- are maybe in their 30's. they are trying to get through school. they are trying to maintain families, afford housing. what i have gathered is not necessarily one certain thing, but just in general trying to get their lives together and to be able to get their careers and pathway to live together. host: r.j. from sterling,

virginia. you are calling on the 18 to 24-year-old line. caller: i work on a campaign and 0. -- in va-1 when we go canvassing we have been pushing absentee ballots like a lot of swing districts. i think that will push the youth vote. host: why did you get involved with the va-10 race directly? caller: it is my hometown. sterling, va is my hometown. i really like the candidate, senator weston. barbara comstock was representing us, especially on gun violence. she took $138,000 from the nra. i don't want it to be my community next.

that is why i am knocking on doors for her today. host: as far as what jennifer on canand can do -- wext do, what is she for? caller: she is strong on assault weapons. host: tell us about the peers you associate with. what are the issues aside from gun violence? what are you passionate about when you vote? i have ay peers, friend on the comstock campaign. we all agree the gun violence issue is out of control. studentss -- most agree on common sense gun reform. that is something that will push students from across section to vote for the opposition party this year. tot students believe we have work on infrastructure.

we want to live in a country with good roads and bridges. there are a lot of issues that democrats are pushing that will align people regardless of party. host: are you going to school currently? caller: i go to george mason university. host: when you participate with the campaign, is this a weekend thing? how engaged are you? caller: a lot of the kids i know are either fresh college grads or they do classes at night, maybe take a day off on a monday. they do work in the office during the day. host: what's going on it george mason? what are you sensing as far as the campaign and students engaging directly for next week? caller: george mason is a safe district for gerry connolly. a lot of the students come in to

va-10 to help us out. they have always knocked on a lot of doors for nearby swing districts. i know they do phone banks as well. host: as far as the campus itself, the culture on campus, how much activity on both sides are you seeing? caller: it is crazy. we have planned parenthood on campus, a lot of progressive groups. a lot of voter registration groups like next gen. people want to get involved. they see the news everyday and they don't want to be re-tweaking things -- retweeting things. they want to be part of the resistance, for lack of a better word. host: what do you think the perception is for young people voting from those perhaps you were not so young? people gethink

excited. i'm glad you guys are getting involved and engaging with the community, but there is cynicism. heard every response. i say this limit your to get very excited when they see a people doing things that i say -- i say there is a slim majority they get excited when they see people doing things. whatever i do, public service is part of that. before 2016, i wanted to go to art school. after the election i wanted to get back to my country. we saw it happened in 2016 and the kind of people that are in power and account abide in that. host: r.j. from virginia. he is calling on the line for

students who want to talk about the youth experience when it comes to voting. other lines you can choose from. this is from new york, edwin is next on the line for 50 and older. caller: hello. host: go ahead. caller: if you give the youth the opportunity to vote, they will vote. we were all young once. we know what it is like to be a young person interested in the future. if you makes that it a national holiday, where everybody is out there voting on that day, it will increase the opportunity for people to vote. as one young person said earlier, school is open. jobs are open. people are not getting to the polls because they don't have the opportunity to get there. that is all i need to say. ory isfrom florida, t next up. caller: i would like to say i

went to a political rally a week and a half ago. i saw a lot of young enthusiastic voters. i engaged with them. they said, and i talked to a group of about eight standing near me. their number one issue was health care. was the hatredg from the other side. they are not going to stand for it any longer. i applaud them and i was excited to see some many of the youth out there. they were engaged. this was at a university. they were young women and men i was talking to. they were not even from that college. they came from another college just to participate in this political rally. i applaud them. host: do you think that level of engagement is different from

years past as far as activity among young people in politics? caller: absolutely. this administration has woke a lot of people up. not just that age group. but every other generation. it definitely has awoken them to getting engaged in making changes. ford off of facebook said youth should not get engaged until they are grown up. jonathan landon saying that only 10% or less of the public pays attention to politics, it is important to get kids involved as early as possible. you can call us on the lines. youth engagement 2018 is what we are focused on today. we have in our in 15 minutes or so. 15 minutes or so. see from atlanta.

-- steve from atlanta. not only thenk youth but every voter in the united states as set up by the constitution needs to be a taxpayer. we have gotten away from that. we have gone with the democracy. one man, one vote. you breathe, you vote. that is a road to destruction. as far as the president goes, i don't like him. i would not sit down to eat a meal with him. however, he is 1000 times better than what we had before and 1000 times better than what we have in congress. that gives you a perspective on what older people think. host: why require a student or young person to th pay taxes? some of those kids could be in college. taxpaying to be a

requirement to vote? caller: that is the way the constitution is set up and that is correct. because -- if a younger person is in the military, they should vote. or they should be given the right to vote. militaryre not in the or the police or something like they if you're a taxpayer, should be the ones to vote, period. all ages. not just youth. host: steve in atlanta. here in the district of columbia, the washington, d.c. counsel is voting to lower the age for voting to 16. 0 approval in the judiciary and public safety committee on thursday. the 26th amendment to the u.s.

constitution guarantees citizens 18 and older the right to vote. scholars said does not prevent a state or in this case the nation's capital from setting a lower age. according to one of the council members, he said his bill will en franchise -- in nfranchise youth. guest: good morning, pedro. host: what is the level of interest leading up to the midterms next year on campus? guest: i would say students are pretty highly energized. we have seen a lot of efforts for voter turnout, both among college students who do not vote much on campus. there has also been an effort by political groups to canvass in swing districts. doing phone banks, letter writing campaigns.

of energizing is pretty high. what is the level of energy compared to 2016 and the presidential election? -- in the presidential election? guest: i think recent events have energized college students. we were all watching closely the kavanaugh hearings. i think the conversation has been centered around predominantly president trump. students see it as a referendum on trump. people are talking about the issues he has implemented affecting us on college campuses. host: when it comes to columbia, republican and democratic groups on campus, what kind of activities are they engaged in? guest: one big drive that has been surprisingly effective has

been just handing out stamps to students to help them fill out absentee ballots in their home states. for a lot of get out the vote efforts it comes down to something as simple as reminding students what the deadline is to request absentee ballots or send it into their home states. there has been an effort to bring speakers to campus who specifically a lot of conversations around identity and how issues of identity are going to come up in the races. host: the discourse you talk about, has it been civil on campus? guest: for the most part yes. it has been spearheaded by a lot of students who are part of political groups who are interested in talking about candidates, talking about issues. at the same time i think a lot of president trump's issues lead to vigorous debate.

we have a lot of international and undocumented students. especially his policies regarding immigration are very personal issues for a lot of students. host: when it comes to you and your reporting, what do you engage in leading up to election day? what will your coverage look like? guest: at columbia we are looking closely at the texas senate race. umnus.'rourke is an al otherwise we will pay attention races and york senate other elections that could actually have policy impacts on our campus. host: the talked about the role of texting on campus. talk about other social media. how that is used to engage people to vote but inform voters as they head to the polls. a lot ofmething

organizers will tell you is it is difficult to get college students to phone bank. a lot of people are people have social anxiety when it comes to talking on the phone. texting is different. there are apps that allow people to text voters directly using databases. voters can respond and answer questions and help people get information about how to get to poll.earest we have seen a word to spread messages on social media. sharing information on facebook and twitter. there have even been tender campaigns-- tinder and get the vote out that way. host: what position has the college taken on election day? are they making it easy to vote? guest: columbia has a university holiday on election day. there is no classes.

all employees get the day off. that is intended to get people to the polls. it is a policy that has been in place for a few years. host: what will you and your colleagues be doing on election day? guest: i will be paying attention to the results, watching them that night. i have already voted via absentee ballot. it will just be looking at those results. host: what do you hope to do after you graduate? guest: i hope to work for a newspaper covering politics. specifically something like elections in the state capital or national capital. host: how can people find your publication online? how do they reach you online if they wish? guest: you can find the columbia spectator at columbiaspectator.com, and you can follow me on twitter. holmes, thank you

for your time. this is scott as we continue our discussion. scott and connecticut. -- in connecticut. advice i canest give young voters is the advice have get any citizen. you should not join the democrat or republican parties. democrats and republicans in the election. that is what i am going to do. i am a member of the green party. green partyfor candidates and on affiliateds. host: do you think young people know about the green party? caller: they should if they have done their homework, but most people don't do their homework before they vote in this country. they should be aware of the 10 key values of the green party.

reducing military spending, universal health care, essentially medicare for all is another example, building a peace economy based on local economies, etc. hey and gender equity -- pay and gender equity. they can access the internet. we have become an asylum without walls in the united states because of the divisiveness between the democrats and republicans and the dysfunction in congress. we need a progressive movement. the green party has been around for over 20 years. it has been very successful in europe. it is the ascendant here in the united states. we need a progressive movement to continue. jill stein has run twice for president. people are familiar with ms.s

stein. bernie sanders is essentially a green. host: bernie sanders got a lot of support from young people. the you think that carries on to -- do you think people will find those candidates? caller: i hope so. overtures toade bernie to run with the green party. she was willing to have bernie run as president and she was going to be vice presidental candidate. he declined because i think bernie still thinks the democratic party is the party of fdr. those days are long gone. it is now the party of bill clinton, which is a triangulating conservative party. that is like bernie did not get the nomination. ohio let's go to basil in

for those 50 and older. caller: i would like to speak to the younger people. ask yourself where you will be in two or four years. are you willing to give up your borders, your freedom and let government takeover? if you go into business, do you want more influence for the government telling you had your business should be run? which freedoms are you willing to give up if you vote for the democratic party? if you're willing to give up those freedoms, the democratic party is for you if you want more abortions, euthanasia of senior citizens because there are too many in nursing homes. they like the debt. they like to have all kinds of things that will bring -- let's say will be called decadence into america. is this what you want to raise

your children and with -- children in with the blue wave coming? or do you want to send them where you want to be educated? young people wake up to the reality of which party you want to have and which president you want to support. do you want more unemployment or welfare? definitely get on top of the blue wave. watch it crests and splashdown with no hope and no jobs for the future. host: that is basil. you can make your thoughts known. if you are between the ages of 18 and 24, it is (202) 748-8000. if you fall between the ages of 25 to 49, (202) 748-8001. if you are 50 and over, (202) 748-8002. there is a group.

they are supporting the effort called knock the vote. they released an ad motivating other people to go out to the polls. here is the ad. [video] >> dear young people. don't vote. >> trump. that was us. >> tax cuts for the rich. hell yeah. >> climate change. that is a youth problem. i will be dead soon. >> sure, school shootings are sad. >> but i have not been in a school for 50 years. meme onike some instagram. >> maybe you can go to one of those little marches. >> but you won't vote. >> you young people never do. >> but i do. >> i do. >> midterms, primaries.

>> every single election. >> we are a generation of doers. >> not whiners. >> we are doing great. host: we will your next from jenny in north carolina for 50 and older. caller: hi there. i have got a lot of things. i have been around for a while. i was in the civil rights movement and have been involved ever since. i think this is the most important election that is ever been. i am so concerned about so many things. human, civilnt, and voting rights. just everything. i think we need -- host: what message would you

tell young people as they plan to vote? caller: look at the issues. vote your conscience. host: do you think you will see a lot of engagement with young people this election cycle? caller: i am certainly hoping. host: marcia is next in new jersey. caller: yes, thank you for c-span for taking up this topic. concerned in this educationat higher has become too expensive for young people. they have to take out loans. it is very difficult for them. i would like to see more vocational schools built across the united states so that some young people who do not go to

college or any of the universities can get a skill so when they get out of these vocational schools they can get a job. this is very important. another thing, i think they should -- transportation if they cannot get to the polls. this should be available because young people are the future of our country. thank you so much for c-span. host: john from virginia, calling on the line for 18 to 24-year-olds. caller: hi. i just wanted to say there was a caller a few people back about who is talking about the green party and a few of the others. how we need to look at other parties. i completely agree. in my state we have corey stewart and a libertarian.

i will not be voting for the libertarian, but i think it is that we look into other parties. host: how would you describe yourself? caller: as an independent but i tend to vote for democrats. host: what are your plans for next week? who do you plan to vote for in virginia? caller: i am planning on voting for kane in the senate. and ily for my district think those are the only two elections for me. the others are for constitutional amendments for virginia. host: when it comes to the reasons are voting, what particularly motivates you to vote for either candidate? tend toconnelly does do more outreach wise in the area.

over corey worry student. -- corey stewart. he terrifies the hell out of me. host: how active have groups been to reaching out to you for this election? caller: i would say we do tend to be ignored because we historically don't vote much. bet thisbe willing to election might be different. host: you think there will be more motivation than there was an 2016 for the presidential election? caller: amongst young voters there might be a bit more. it might just be due to most young people taking it very harsh and negative view of the president. i think he will drive young people out to vote primarily against him, but i imagine there would be some that would vote for him as well.

host: what is the perception of older people towards younger people when it comes to voting? guess they tend to be lazy and terms of civic engagement because we tend not to vote. hopefully this election will start to reverse that perception a little bit. host: that is john. just a little south of washington, d.c. in virginia. inie and maryland -- maryland. go ahead. caller: good morning. for letting me have a voice this morning. claimingo people call they are voting for the green party. values thet of those green party established, they basically gave those values to

the democratic party. it is not a coincidence. they know what they are doing. they are trying to erode the democratic vote. i believe these people are fake. they are trying to make sure you don't vote for the democrats. vote for the green party. that means the democratic party is losing votes. i'm sure they are doing this everywhere. i can't imagine anybody wants to vote for the green party. they know they are not going to win. virtually all the so-called v values is what the democratic party is thousands. why would you vote -- the democratic party espouses. host: youth engagement is what we are talking about. what you think about the youth vote? caller: i think a lot are energized. a lot of people are going to do the right thing. everybody has a right to vote for whatever party that shares

their values. what i have seen is, based on everything in the last two years in this country, definitely more youth are engaging as far as gun regulations or whatever their concerns. a lot of them are definitely voting democrat this year. people are energized. that i see for sure. host: the american psychological association did a survey of people who plan to vote in this election cycle. when it comes to that survey, when it comes to those who describe themselves as older , andcans, 87% were booms the next list at 76% was gen x 'ers. gen z, 54%. millennials, 68%. we had a guest from the organization to talk about stress and america, particularly

things politically that we are seeing nowadays that might be causing stress among younger voters. mitigating that stress? guest: what is happening, it looks like the current environment is actually causing people more stress. one of the things we also know is that as we mature and as we are better able to match that stress. the lowest stress levels are in older americans. the highest stress levels turn out to be in younger americans. in the survey we looked at a generation z. they'd group between 15 and 21. what we found was that that age group experiences stress at a much higher rate than all the other it groups. in fact, on a whole series of questions, they rated that more of them, they were stressed by events in the news like sexual assault, some of the political issues happening. host: if you want to see the full interview that took place

on this program, go to c-span.org, and go to the washington journal page. you can find the complete interview. jeff from maine. caller: good morning. i am in my mid-70's. people,alk to especially young kids about the vote, i like to point out in my lifetime in this country people have their children murdered because they wanted to vote. you talk to a lot of kids and they don't seem to understand what a privilege it is and what a responsibility it is. it is not the vote just because you vote. it is the vote that takes time to get informed about what your voting on. i hear a lot of complaints. there will be no social security when i get to be time to retire.

the point is now is the time they should be on the move to make that happen and change that. it is a matter of the kids getting involved. i hope with the numbers coming across the board now, the age limits progress and the kids will become more involved and will no longer be kids. host: you expect them to participate in a big way next week? caller: i really hope so. i absolutely do. host: when you engage with them do they automatically express a desire to participate in the process? what are you sensing when you talk with them? caller: i am from maine. people appear ten --up here ten d to be one-sided. but i see the kids as wanting to be involved. if they get out and vote, that's a different story.

but i see they have interests. host: that is jeff in portland, maine, calling on the line for 50 and older. bunny off of facebook. she loves seeing our future. facebook says when it comes to engagement and education of young voters, get to know the real facts, not propaganda from liberal college professors. facebook and our twitter feed. tom joining us from florida. caller: good morning. i wanted to comment about the ller thatt said -- ca said he will don't go because they don't have a way there. how do they get to where they buy their groceries and clothing? how do they buy diapers and formula? where do they buy the cigarettes

and beer? there is time. your polling place is probably closer, even if you walked over ride a bicycle. not voting because you can't get there is a little lame. host: do you think you will see that kind of -- that lack of motivation next week or will you see a motivation of a lot of people? caller: if it is young people, it will be the engaged. more than likely the suburban , sorry to drop the race card but white young person. i think there is a group of people that has lost hope in the system. some of that rightfully so, some of it not. it is the reality. some people just checked out.

i myself have changed parties four times. that tells you something right there. i keep because my opinions on things change. host: where do you stand now? caller: i'm a registered nonparty affiliate but that i am core -- at my core libertarian. on social issues i tend to lean democrat. we can't just line up -- we have to do something with the homeless. we can't just line up them.rables and shoot there are people in this country that are not living the american dream. just put them on the government for life but help them to live the american dream. i am not in the handout camp. let's get people out there living the american dream. ort: do you have children

nieces or nephews you engage in the political conversation? caller: on a very limited basis. politics and religion are not good conversation. both of my daughters are grown. they are college-educated. one is a health care, the other is in the service industry. , they are engaged as well. they are still young so who knows where they will go from there. host: do they share your political views? caller: i have shared them. everyone knows where i stand. host: do they agree with you? do they align with you in politics? caller: not really. my family is pretty much -- they are sticking with the two major party thing. they share some of my opinions on things but not necessarily to the extent of verbalizing them

and switching parties. and tof folks believe, some extent rightfully so, to be a registered nonparty affiliate is a wasted vote. maybe. down the road we will see. i believe more and more people are pulling away. i don't have any data to prove this, but i think more and more people are pulling away from the major parties. the fact you have aligned dedicated to nonparty affiliates, that says something right there. host: that is tom from winter haven, florida. throughout the course of the morning we have been joined by journalists from publications at colleges and universities. hoining us now is ellie bus from the university of minnesota. thank you for joining us. guest: thank you for having me.

host: how would you describe the level of activity on campus leading up to next week? guest: it has been wild. there are people handing out flyers in class to get you to vote. students are really energized right now. that thing is we want to see them show up to the polls. host: what do you think will happen as far as groups involved with the parties involved to make sure and enthusiasm turns and it people showing up? guest: we will not know until election day. i predict more students will show up. i don't know if it will be in historic numbers, although they have been pushing and volunteering in a historic way. there has been higher volunteer numbers we have reported. we are waiting to see on election day. our people allowed to go into the dorms door to door to talk about politics? guest: they are.

they can door knock. they just have to register before. host: where does social media come into play when it comes to getting people to come out to vote? guest: personally i have seen a lot of ads on my social media feed, but there has been a lot of stuff spread via facebook. a big thing on campus is holding events to get people to show up and register. they will market those events on social media. that is a good way to drop in -- draw in people. events, are they republican, democratic in nature or other groups represented? guest: that's a really good question. what we have seen on the campus is a shift in strategy. a lot of students are just trying to get the students out

to vote. they are not specifically aligning with a party. they just want the students to show up and vote. host: when it comes to the people reporting on these issues, what are the motivating issues that drive students to vote? guest: great question again. what we have heard throughout all of our reporting is students are worried about student loans, climate change and gun control. those are the things we see having immediate impact and the once students have a lot to talk about. host: what motivates this? the shootings this year or are other things motivating them? guest: exactly. with gun control it is dealing with those events. for climate change it is seeing the reports and media coverage predicting not a sustainable earth frozen the future. and for tuition, we are paying

thestudent fees and seeing long-term debt buildup for us. that is another big motivating factor. host: how supportive is the university of these efforts? guest: they are really supportive. i have not been surprised that i have been pleased with house of ported the university -- with how supportive the university of minnesota has been. students can swing through on the way to class and go vote. accommodating to the events i was talking about where students can show up and register to vote or learn about who to vote for. the university has given us space to have these events. it has been a well-rounded experience at the university of minnesota in terms of university support. host: our talking about visits by candidates were asking directly for a vote? describe what you have seen?

guest: we have seen both types of events. events for students registered vote, andter to where they show up on campus. we just had someone last week from the march for life group with a bunch of other political people running for office. we have a lot of those events where students can listen and understand what those candidates want to vote for. host: talk about the coverage you will do on election night. guest: we have been preparing for this for a while. this is our big night. we are so excited to be covering this. allave all hands on deck, 16 of our reporters will be at parties covering the candidates. we will cover in day-of elections. who did you vote for? why are you voting? we are excited to be out there covering it. host: what are you looking for on election night?

guest: i will be paying attention to our senate seat. we have two of her election. what is incumbent amy ryszard, and we have 18 congressional districts up for election. several have the potential to flip. those have been highly watched them will have national implications. that is something students have recognized. their home districts could flip and a lot of them are considering sending in absentee ballots as a result. host: you are a senior. what do you hope to do after you graduate? guest: i will stay in newspapers. i can do nothing besides reported this point in my life. i will stay in the papers and just report. host: working folks find you online? guest: mndaily.com. host: thanks a lot for your

time. guest: thank you. host: williamsburg, virginia. harry is next. go-ahead. harry. this is i think all these kids should get out and vote. is, if youlem remember when they had a big florida,in parkland, they had the big rally in d.c. and were all up in the air they were preaching on this and that. said they would not back anybody backed by the nra. yet, three or four months of rally, the

president told the nra people to put their vote and the money behind the republicans. ndwant to see if these parkla people will stick up to their word and the kids will go out up andnd back their word not vote republican. host: the march for our lives group is one of those future to subpoena and in the get out the vote effort leading up to next tuesday. they put out an ad. here it is. [video] >> nervous. >> my first time -- >> was in the back of a firehouse. >> in a church. >> everybody clapped afterwards. >> i did not know how to do it. >> there were so many options. [laughter] >> you never know what is going to be like until you do it. >> i just went and did it.

i voted. >> my first time with a woman was 2016. it felt good but it ended badly. >> my parents were not allowed to do it until 1965. i do it every chance i get. >> we have the numbers, we have the power, we can do this. >> come do it with us on november 6. >> our generation is the largest group of voters in the country. >> let our voices be heard. >> he can't vote if you don't fill up the forms and register. >> it takes like two minutes. >> i was so excited afterwards that i elected all over the place. >> vote. >> vote. >> register and vote. >> it is so hot. >> voting is so hot. host: on the topic of youth engagement, frank from seattle, washington. i think the engagement

campaigns is -- this is a topic we as their peers -- teach our children well. educated in the state of washington. , stateernor and mayor and city education has not wavered as i have been following politics as i've grown up. engaged, youuth need a gimmick. youth engagement, yes. we were educated with the constitution. we need to remind the youth of this day and age the

constitution says we the people, and that word "people" has not been replaced by the word "partisanship." they need to get with secretary and revamp our education system to remind our students that they are votes. host: this is dennis in georgia, between 25 and 49. caller: how are you doing this morning? i was a democrat. their negativity is breeding hate. i just can't stay with that party anymore. until they change their negativity there is no way they will survive. the party is dying. host: we are talking about the party of the -- talking about the youth vote.

what about their participation in the election? caller: they say they will vote but they don't get out. i don't think they will show up. host: what makes you say that? caller: there is nothing the party stands for. they have nothing but negativity and hate. host: colorado springs. this is mark on the line for 50 and older. caller: good morning. peoplecited the young are energized. i disagreed with the last caller that just stated kids are not going to come out to vote. educate the youngsters yourselves on what the parties stand for, on what the individuals stand for that you're voting for. i have learned that lesson as my dad's cousin is one of the originators who wrote the letter

-- that jfk got elected for, or was able to defeat nixon. i say that because when individuals say the democratic party is the party of hate, this is not true. i will not say the republican party is the party of hate, but the current tell of the republic of theent tone republican party has yet to become inclusive to minorities in the way it will include everyone in its agenda. please, to the young folks if you're watching this early in the morning, some of you are because i hear you calling in, understand the green party is trying to steal votes from the democratic party. just check your history. host: that is marked in colorado springs. andrew robinson on facebook says

it is their future, democracy or fascism. age of voting should be at 2520 are out of the institution that hijacks youth identity -- should be at the age of 25. ron? caller: thank you for c-span. i believe the youth vote will not materialize the way we want it to. based on the graph you showed with generation x, maybe 55%. the millennials maybe 57%. they can't come out. the sides a lot of callers talking about how they see their problems, we should look at it at a higher level. maybe at a 30,000. and not at the level of our neighborhoods -- maybe at

a0,000-foot level -- maybe at 30,000 foot level and not the level of our neighborhoods. the democratic and republican parties are corrupt. we need an independent party. we need a leader, someone to speak to america and say what are we doing. this fighting is going to destroy us. i served in bosnia and i served in kosovo. the things i saw there, i immediately thought this could easily happen in america. of ourling, the raping neighbors because of religion and hate. againstase it might be white and african-american because we are fighting over the wrong things. we don't even believe in what our pledge of allegiance stands for.

host: that is ron in virginia. you are welcome to call. we have been at this for about two hours this morning. one more hour to go to get your thoughts on view think gays met in cannes -- on youth engagement in campaign 2018. if you want to call abou issues important to you, it is (202) 748-8000 if you fall into the 18 to 24-year-old bracket. if you are 25 to 49, it is (202) 748-8001. if you are 50 and older, (202) 748-8002. maine.thisson from is tom. caller: thank you for taking my call. people hope the younger are going out to participate in

this upcoming election. and i've heard some of the comments made by some ,eople saying,saying, well, thes people don't know how to register, or they don't know how to go to the polling place or things like that. i think a lot of that is excuses . upemember when i was growing , when i was first eligible to earlyn the late 1970's, 1980's. i did not have access to the internet. i did not have a smartphone. it was tougher to figure out the process of registering. i still managed to do that. i have participated ever since. think it is much easier for a younger person to get out there and vote. maybe weomeone say

should make it a national holiday. i find some credit in that. i think that is not a bad idea. if you are passionate about this upcoming election, you cannot make any excuses. you have got to get out there and make your voice count. , understand people have lives families, obligations. i used to live in new york. i remember the polling place opened at 6:00 a.m. in the morning. that means you have to get up early on one particular morning to get to your polling place. do that. that is tom from maine. tyler is next. he is between the ages of 18 and 25. caller: i would just like to reassure everyone out there. in north carolina, i have noticed a lot more people, teenagers especially voting.