Young voters plan to turn out

From National Public Radio: "A Harvard Institute of Politics study concludes that nearly one-third of 18- to 24-year-olds plan on voting in the upcoming midterm elections. That could mean the highest turnout for the age group in any midterm election in the last 20 years."

In the survey, immigration comes up in Question 14, where the researchers ask the respondents to grade the Bush Administration's work on different issue areas. On undocumented immigration, less than 22% of respondents gave the Administration an A or B while more than 29% gave it an F. Its overall GPA (Grade Point Average) on immigration was 1.47. (Comparatively, 43% of the respondents gave the Bush Administration an F for its performance in Iraq and an overall GPA of 1.29).

The survey is interesting but perhaps slightly misleading in suggesting that the President alone has the responsibility of fixing the immigration system. Yet then again, Congress huffed and puffed about immigration for the past 11 months, and only came up with an unfunded fence. The survey does show, however, the young voters will be considering a number of issues beyond immigration when they enter the voting booth on Tuesday.