Airing live from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, President Barack Obama’s message to young Americans resonated on the big screen to 35 Saint Louis University students watching the broadcast in the Billiken Club on Tuesday, Sept. 29.

With the General Municipal Election coming up on Nov. 2, College Democrats President Stacy Vojta held the watch-party to raise awareness and to get students to register to vote in the Busch Student Center before the Oct. 6 deadline.
“I feel like my role is to encourage students to be involved with the political process and to care about city politics, state politics and national politics, and to be engaged citizens here at SLU,” Vojta said.
Young voter turnout has been on the rise in recent elections; the 2008 election drew a historic turnout for young people at the polls.
The BSC polling place had a projected 1,000 students who turned out to vote for the 2008 election. College Democrats and College Republicans have been focusing efforts to bring back students to the polls for the upcoming midterm election.
“It is definitely a challenge because 2008 was such a historic election for youth turnout, and there was such momentum for people to vote in that election,” Vojta said. “It is a challenge to continue that momentum for the midterms, and there is a lot working against us to get students out to vote this time.”
College Republicans President Brenna Medlin reiterated this challenge, but is optimistic that voters will come out and the numbers may even increase at the BSC polls.
“We think the voter polling place is great,” Medlin said. “We don’t care where people vote or how we vote … just that we vote and we have a say. I would like to see an increase in voters because polls show that not everyone agrees with Obama’s policies and I think that will really show in this election.”
For the last week, Obama has tailored his message for educational policies to college and university students.
Approximately 17,000 college students attended Obama’s rally at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In a conference call with college and university student journalists on Sept. 27, Obama addressed his goals for the educational system, citing that affording higher education was his first priority.
“The key here is that we want to open the doors of our colleges and universities to more people so they can learn, they can graduate and they can succeed in life,” Obama said in the conference call.
Another key priority Obama addressed in his message was to ensure that higher education creates the workforce that will fit the needs of the “jobs of the future.”
“Those [new jobs] are going to open up new opportunities for young people with skills and talent for the future,” Obama said. “So don’t let anybody tell you that somehow your dreams are going to be constrained going forward. You’re going through a slightly tougher period.”
The Missouri ballot has options for the Senate seats, including Robin Carnahan (D-MO), Roy Blunt (R-MO) and congressional representatives for our district, including Russ Carnahan (D-MO) and Ed Martin (R-MO). Other key issues on the ballot include Proposition A, which will be an amendment to repeal the authority that cities have in using an earnings tax to fund their budgets.
“There [are] a lot of issues that impact us right now,” Vice President of College Democrats Thomas Bloom said. “It is about making our voice heard. Our generation is traditionally under-counted, under-represented, and we could sway a lot of major elections if we show up.”
To register to vote in the BSC for this election, go studentvote.org.