Poll finds college students care more about politics than general public

College students care more about politics, have greater intentions to vote and support President George W. Bush in greater numbers than does the general public, according to a telephone poll designed and partially conducted by Harvard University students earlier this month.

“The conventional view that the majority of America’s college students are Democratic and that they care little about politics is clearly disproved by this poll,” said Dan Glickman, director of Harvard University’s Institute of Politics, which oversaw the nationwide poll that took place between Oct. 3 and 12. “This poll is a warning shot to all candidates and political parties: Engage the nation’s nine million college students or watch them vote for your opponent.”

College students are highly independent but lean more toward the right, with 31 percent of those surveyed identifying themselves as Republicans. Twenty-seven percent said they were Democrats, and 38 percent considered themselves independent or unaffiliated, according to the poll. The general population labels itself as significantly more Democratic than the group of 1,202 students polled nationwide.

College students also showed themselves as more likely to give President Bush a positive job rating, more likely to express trust in the president and more likely to support the president in a match-up with a “generic” Democrat. But the poll also indicates students are more critical of the president’s Iraq policies, more likely to think that he has lied to them about the war and more supportive of pulling some or all American troops out of Iraq immediately.

“These apparent contradictions appear to be based on college students’ greater concern with the personal leadership qualities and experiences of a president than with his positions on specific issues,” wrote John Della Volpe, a pollster whose firm, Schneiders/Della Volpe/Schulman, conducted the survey and analyzed the data, in a booklet discussing the findings of the poll.

When electing a president, 28 percent of respondents said they seek strong leadership qualities. Another 17 percent said they would elect a president who is direct and authentic — even if they do not always agree with all the candidate’s views. Only 16 percent said that a candidate who agrees with them on the issues would be their first choice.

Kati Borden, former president of the Boston University College Republicans and current Vice Chair of the Massachusetts Alliance of College Republicans, disagreed. Borden said she votes on issues over personal leadership qualities. However, “if somebody of outstanding character decides to run for office, that’s certainly a consideration,” the College of Arts and Sciences senior said.

“Look at Al Gore,” said Shawn White, president of BU College Democrats and a CAS senior. “A lot of people agreed with his policies, but he wasn’t a good leader. That hurt him in the end.”

College students also showed themselves as less apathetic than some may think.

More than 90 percent of students polled disagreed with the statement, “It doesn’t matter who the President is.” Eighty-six percent think political engagement is an effective way to solve important community problems, according to the poll.

“I think everybody should at least follow politics at a basic level,” Borden said. “It’s too important to ignore.”

But School of Management freshman Mike Dewey said, “I don’t think it really matters who’s elected president.

“I think I might just vote for some radical person to mess with the system,” he continued. Dewey said he recently registered to vote when “some kids with John Kerry hats” knocked on his dorm room door and he signed a form.

More than two-thirds of the students polled were registered to vote and 82 percent said they would definitely or probably vote in the 2004 election for president.

However, this may be different for the 20 percent of students who said they would vote at their polling place but did not know where it was, and the 34 percent who said they would vote through absentee ballot but did not know how to request one or how to vote absentee.

The easiest way to obtain an absentee ballot is to call the county clerk or registrar and if they are not in charge of absentee voting, they will know who is, Borden said.

In a 2003 op-ed piece, Glickman wrote that most youth do not follow the status quo of American politics.

“They welcome change. They are independent minded, powerful, and a resource for our country’s continued renewal,” he wrote. “If modern American campaigns are inclusive of this group of Americans and show them the respect they deserve by dedicating the appropriate resources to engage them, our democracy will be more vigorous, more inclusive, and more lasting.”

With White reporting increased political interest on campus, Glickman’s comments may be more relevant.

“This year, in our group, it seems like a lot more people are active and attending our meetings than in the last couple of years,” White said.