Young Voters Agree: No Experience Necessary

Young Voters Agree: No Experience Necessary

MTV Networks' New Study "The Election Effect" Reveals How Campaign 2008 Has Shaped Youth Attitudes toward Experience, Age, Race and Gender Now and Beyond November

NEW YORK, Oct. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- While the tickets of Obama/Biden and McCain/Palin have catapulted the issue of experience to the forefront of the 2008 presidential campaign, voters between the ages of 18 and 34 rank experience low among the qualities they want in the next president, according to MTV Networks' new study, "The Election Effect: Issues Shaping Young Voters Now and Beyond November." The study, designed to identify how the campaign has shaped young voters' thinking in the voting booth and beyond, revealed that many of the attitudes of today's young voters challenge the conventional wisdom around key themes in this election, including experience, age, race and gender.

"The Election Effect study paints a picture of how the campaign has shaped young voters' thinking on some of its most prominent themes, and what's clear is that young Americans value leadership and vision far more than they do experience," said Judy McGrath, Chairman and CEO, MTV Networks.

"This generation has watched Marc Zuckerberg, LeBron James and Carrie Underwood break convention and shoot from anonymity to celebrity overnight. To young Americans, 'shortcutting' is cool," said Colleen Fahey Rush, Executive Vice President of Strategic Insights and Research, MTV Networks.

Experience and Age

The study revealed that despite the overwhelming emphasis on experience and age throughout the campaign, these qualities mean little to young adults. When asked to choose the most important factor in determining whether someone is ready to be president, a full 78 percent of young voters chose "leadership qualities" and "vision" over "proven experience in government" or the time a candidate has spent "learning the ropes and the issues." For Obama and McCain supporters alike, experience ranked 11th out of 12 characteristics young voters want in the next president. Integrity is the true threshold characteristic that all young voters want and respect.

HOW CLOSE DOES EACH WORD SUM UP WHAT Mean for All Voters
YOU WANT IN THE NEXT PRESIDENT?
(RANK 1-100)

Integrity 87
Security 80
Change 80
Openness 80
Innovation 77
Optimism 77
Patriotism 76
Unity 76
Progressive 76
Caring 76
Experience 69
Conservative 51

Additionally, with Obama and McCain separated by the largest age difference of any two presidential candidates in American history, age has been a prominent point of discussion throughout the campaigns. Yet, the majority of 18-to-34 year-old voters are unfazed by the age difference, with 60 percent saying one's age does not make a candidate more or less qualified for the presidency.

Race and Gender

Young voters see the candidacy of Barack Obama as having a transformational event for the dynamics of race in the United States. According to The Election Effect, 57 percent of all young voters, and 69 percent of African American voters, say that an African American being the presidential nominee of one of the two major parties signals a major step forward for the country that will have a lasting impact.

Young voters see the same historic significance in the achievements of Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin as well, albeit to a lesser extent. Of those surveyed, 47 percent of all respondents, and 49 percent of young women, think that having a woman come close to winning her party's nomination and a woman Republican vice presidential nominee signals a major step forward for the country.

Worried, but Upbeat

Today's young voters are very in tune to the economic strife at hand. When asked what change they would like to see come out of this election, young voters volunteered economic answers by a factor of better than two to one over any other issues. Yet despite their anxiety, The Election Effect reveals an overall optimism among this group, with 61 percent of young voters saying that this election is a chance to elect someone who can really make a difference in changing and improving their own lives and their own futures. And regardless of their political allegiances, few young voters say they will be "depressed and disillusioned" if their candidate does not win.

For many young voters, there's a prevailing feeling that this election feels different. They've gained countless new outlets and tools to collect and share political information, and they're using them. Fifty-seven percent of those surveyed say that there are a lot of differences in the way they relate to the presidential campaign this year compared to past elections.

Six in 10 voters under age 35 have done one or more of the following four things: a) read a political blog, b) posted on a political blog, c) made contact with a candidate or political cause on a social networking site, or d) sent or received text messages about politics. Twenty-eight percent of voters in this generation frequently engage in at least one of these four ways.

Methodology

On behalf of MTV Networks, the bipartisan polling team of Peter D. Hart Research Associates and McLaughlin & Associates conducted the nationwide survey among 1,245 registered voters under the age of 35, as well as in-depth, qualitative interviews with selected respondents from the survey to further explore their impressions, attitudes, hopes and fears related to this election.

About MTV Networks

MTV Networks, a division of Viacom (NYSE:VIA)(NYSE:VIA.B), is one of the world's leading creators of entertainment content, with brands that engage and connect diverse audiences across television, online, mobile, games, virtual worlds and consumer products. The company's portfolio spans more than 150 television channels and 350 digital media properties worldwide, and includes MTV, VH1, CMT, Logo, Harmonix, Nickelodeon, Nick at Nite, Noggin, The N, AddictingGames, Neopets, COMEDY CENTRAL, Spike TV, TV Land, Atom, GameTrailers and Xfire.

Source: MTV Networks

CONTACT: Carole Robinson, +1-212-846-8760, carole.robinson@mtvstaff.com,
or Mark Jafar, +1-212-846-8961, mark.jafar@mtvstaff.com, both of MTV Networks

Web Site: http://www.mtv.com/

-------
Profile: intent