When former professional wrestler Jesse Ventura won the Minnesota gubernatorial race as a Reform Party candidate Nov. 3, some political scientists saw it as a sign that charisma counts over content.
However, Michele Mitchell, 27, saw it as evidence that young adults aren't just Republicans or Democrats anymore.Forty-six percent of Minnesota's under-30 population voted in the gubernatorial race, according to exit polls - a huge margin for a generation generally discounted as not being a factor in elections.
Mitchell, author of a book on Generation X and political activism, says young adults are increasingly alienated by the two major parties. Ventura's election comes as no surprise to her.
"I thought this would happen," she said of young voters opting for a third-party candidate and helping that candidate win. "I just didn't think it would happen so soon."
She's not the only one who sees a trend.
"When given an alternative beyond political parties, young people will take the alternative," says Ron Faucheux, editor and publisher of Campaigns and Elections Magazine, a nonpartisan magazine that studies elections.
Voter participation for the under-30 generations has been low since 1972, when the voting age was lowered from 21 to 18, according to Census Bureau statistics. In 1972, 48 percent of those between the ages of 21 and 24 voted. In 1997, 33.4 percent voted.
Some say cynicism keeps young adults from casting ballots. Others say it's complacency. Seth Matlins of Rock the Vote, a group that mobilizes young adults, says it's the way they were raised.
This under-30 generation is the first raised post-Watergate and post-Iran-Contra scandals, Matlins said. And instead of following their parents' party affiliations, they followed their parents' disillusionment with government.
"I think by and large, young adults, like many Americans, are disgusted, disenfranchised and disengaged," he says. "They're tired of politics as usual."
Chuck Tampio, vice president of Close-Up, a Washington, D.C., program aimed at educating young people about politics, says young adult voters are mirroring the rest of the population. Voter turnout is dropping among all generations.
"We've got political leaders whose campaigns are based on trying to distort the record or slur the other candidate," Tampio said. "Politicians do not demonstrate any concern for young people's ideas or issues. I think we've done a pretty good job of turning kids off."
With many young adults believing in the fiscal conservatism of Republicans and the social inclusion of Democrats, Mitchell said, it's natural that neither party would fit them well.
Dean Myerson, secretary of the Association of State Green Parties, said young adult voters have been major bases of support for Green Party candidates in two recent congressional special elections in New Mexico.
In the Third District, Green Party candidate Carol Miller won 17 percent of the vote in a three-way race in May 1997. Green Party candidate Bob Anderson won 15 per-cent in a first district special election this year. Though neither candidate won, support for Green Party candidates included a base of young voters, said Myerson.
Mark Gersch of the National Committee for an Effective Congress says young adult voters are voting independently for a reason that has nothing to do with cynicism.
"I think young voters tend to be less informed," he said. "That's why they start out being independent."
Though some young adult voters are more independent, they won't stray too far from the two major parties, said Monica Samuels, president of the national Young Republicans.
"I think (Ventura's election) was a good wake-up call to both political parties and people in Minnesota in general," Samuels said. "But I think many voters who went to the polls didn't really expect him to emerge the winner."