Column: Obama The Model For The Modern President

This story was written by , The Daily Athenaeum

Perhaps no candidate has excited and energized the youth vote like President-Elect Barack Obama.

Something could be said for the hundreds of active political groups formed to capture the vote of 18 to 30-year-olds around the country.

Obviously, this year, something was done well in order to attract those votes. To what we owe that result is not yet known.

We do know, however, what hasn't worked in the past.

In recent elections, there have been disappointing and even embarrassing attempts at capturing the attention of the 20-something check mark.

An example would be the slogan of the Citizen Change political group.

'Vote or Die!' adorned T-shirts, posters and various other youth-oriented swag.

P. Diddy and 50 Cent, who coincidently did not even vote in the last election, founded and backed the group that threatened death (figuratively?) upon those who decided that voting was not workable in his or her schedule.

The literal truth behind the slogan proved itself to be a bold-faced lie. Which, considering that I did vote, was kind of an anti climax.

Officially, no youth deaths have been attributed to Citizen Change or any of its affiliates.

Not yet, at least. Those exit pollers have suspiciously not been heard from ...

But 'Vote or Die!' was not the only cause to have suffered from its own absurdity.

Though possibly more productive this time around, Smackdown Your Vote, backed by World Wrestling Entertainment, shot for the youth demographic in an unprecedented way in the previous election.

Now, if death doesn't scare the 18 to 30-year-old population, perhaps the prospect of a choke hold or body slam may coax those uncertain individuals out there.

Impressively, the group has lasted to this election and even seems to take serious measures to keep its youth informed.

Tragically, however, it is the nature of the group's usual cause that may hinder any chance of being taken seriously.

Even Mick Foley, a New York Times best-selling author, cannot be spoken of without remembrance of being slammed into a floor covered in tacks or sticking a sock inside of an opponents' mouth.

But perhaps the reason that youth-based organizations were not as productive last time around was really more than just the people who backed them.

Perhaps it was the people they were voting for, specifically the lack of invigoration provided by a candidate who understood and was even literally closer to the age of this prospective demographic.

And this lies in the measures that Obama has taken in order to connect with the crowd.

One of those is simply the Internet.

Sure, being able to track the Straight Talk Express bus across America was interesting for those who actually cared.

McCain's use of the Internet did attempt at catching up and his site is currently a sleek yet simple attempt that not only informs but also has garnered funds in its own right.

However, Obama did not use the Internet as a tool for just fundraising.

Obama embraced and was active in social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook.

Obama even trumped McCain in the amount of YouTube videos produced for each politician's respective campaign.

Though McCain sported an impressive 330 videos produced, Obama currently has 1, 814 to his name, nearly six times as many as the former.

Obama has even advertised in online vieo games.

Think about the disconnect has McCain even twittered once in his life?

Regardless of this, there lies a simple fact that separates Obama from McCain: 25 years.

Many columnists, including myself, have hammered McCain quite heavily for being old.

But the fact remains: Obama is young. He's exciting. He presents what on the surface seems to be new ideas and changes for our country.

But mostly, in a manner that spans demographics and barriers, he means it.