For Bush And Gore, Our State Is Crucial

October 27, 2000|By Nathan Bower, Gateway High

Statistics show that high school students play a relatively small role in presidential elections. They also show that teens could play a much larger role but, for whatever reason, do not. This could change in the near future, particularly in Florida, which has been labeled a most important battleground state in this year's election.

With 25 electoral college votes to be won, Florida ranks fourth in number of votes behind only California with 54 votes, New York with 33 and Texas with 32. Thus, both Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush and Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore have their eyes set on Florida. According to latimes .com, if Gore were to win the state, "it would leave Bush needing to draw the electoral equivalent of an inside straight." Likewise, if Bush were to win the state it would send Gore scrambling to hold on to his other key states.

According to voting trends at, Gore also has to overcome a strong Republican bias in order to win Florida. The state has voted Republican in 71 percent of presidential elections since 1972. However, President Bill Clinton, a Democrat, carried Florida in both the 1992 and 1996 presidential elections. Overall, Florida tends to serve as a decent gauge for predicting the outcomes of presidential elections, as it has voted for the winning candidate 86 percent of the time since 1972.

Beyond what the numbers say, there also are issues meaningful to Florida and Florida's high school students that are being debated this year.

Vanessa Souther, a government teacher at Gateway High, said, "This election is important and contains many educational issues that concern both students and teachers alike."

These include issues such as school vouchers and standardized accountability testing (FCAT, etc.). Despite the direct effect these elections have on today's youth, they just are not voting. According to, "In the 1996 U.S. presidential election, less than one-third of 18-to 24-year-olds voted. And 15 percent voted in the 1998 congressional elections." Brian Elms, director of the National Youth in Action Campaign, said he knows why turnout is so low. "Politicians have gone around creating laws for young people without ever asking them what they feel about it. It's unfortunate. If politicians don't cater to a particular demographic, people just stop going to the polls."

Florida's significance in the election this year is leading some people to predict that the state's young people will be more motivated to go vote when election time comes around. This is true for teens such as Emily Gatlin, a senior at Gateway High, who said she would vote and it will be for Bush. On the other hand, some teens say that Florida's significance in the election has nothing to do with their choice. Cassi Stewart, another Gateway High senior, said, "It does not affect it at all. My choice has nothing to do with the importance of Florida in the election. The choice I make will be the same regardless."

Whether Florida's importance influences teens' choices when voting, it eventually will affect their lives. Because of this, Souther thinks it is important that teens get involved. "I feel a huge responsibility in teaching my students about government issues and, when they are of age, registering them to vote," she said.

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