There are lot of juicy words that can be used to describe yesterday's mid-term elections. Candidates spent a record amount of money advertising their messages across the air waves while the cable news networks featured non-stop coverage. Moreover, let us not forget about Facebook and the crucial role it played in the '08 elections. Yet, according to our Youth Trends Instant Feedback survey conducted yesterday with 858 college students between the ages of 18 and 23, only about one in ten (8%) said they planned on voting. This is in stark contrast to the 27% who said they voted in the '08 elections. What the heck happened? In two words: "turn-off." The single largest reason given to us by students who said they were not planning on voting yesterday was that they were essentially turned off either by the candidates, or more generally speaking politics in general. Although about four in ten students said they still support the president, about half said they felt he could be doing "a better job." Hmm, where did all that hope, enthusiasm and excitement go? With an ever growing list of supporting voter assets students can turn to via Facebook, foursquare, campus-specific, etc. planned voting still dropped precipitously. Incoming congressmen and governors take note, based on what we've observed, most college students pretty much think you're lame.
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