Young voters bring energy and ideas

MANCHESTER, NH – The importance of the role of young people in this year’s election was on full display Friday night during the New Hampshire Democratic Party’s McIntyre-Shaheen 100 Club Celebration.

Presidential candidates Sen. Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton were sure to make mention of the boisterous and vocal young people dispersed throughout the crowd.

While Sanders spoke on the importance of policies such as making college free to all hardworking students, Clinton focused on  the energy, ideas and sense of urgency that young people bring to the democratic process as a whole. The sentiment is echoed on the other side of the aisle by voters such as Betsi Shays, a supporter of Ohio Gov. John Kasich.

“You can’t have campaigns without young people,” Shays said.

Sunday morning, at the “Super Sunday before the New Hampshire” brunch held by Time and the USC Annenberg School Center on Communication Leadership and Policy, several panelists underscored the implications of young people not being involved in government.

Chuck Todd, NBC News Political Director, pointed to the lack of millennials running for office and as well as their dramatically low participation in the federal work force as problems in the current political environment.