From the economy to war in Iraq, this presidential race has seized the attention of South Carolina’s young adults.

The state’s 18- to 24-year-olds bucked national trends during the last election — voting more than their peers nationwide — and seem eager to come out in even greater numbers this time.

That would be a departure from the well-worn stereotypes of young people most often bandied about during election years — lazy, apathetic, ill-informed and out of touch with the “real world.”

Political discussions are even considered chic in some circles.

“I almost hate to say it, but it’s getting a lot more trendy to follow politics,” said Ashley Kolaya, a third-year anthropology student at USC. “You just can’t not pay attention anymore. The bottom line is, it’s contagious.”

A NEW VOTER GROUP

Kolaya was one of about 200 teens and twenty-somethings who gathered Sept. 22 at the Trustus Theatre in Columbia’s Vista.

The official draw was eight pop and punk bands performing for free, but politics took center stage at the event sponsored by the Rock the Vote organization.

Small crowds stood in the parking lot, drinking beer, smoking and debating the race between President Bush, the Republican, and U.S. Sen. John Kerry, the Democrat.

“We all want to figure out which candidate we agree with the most,” said Melissa Anderson, a 19-year-old from Columbia who will be voting for the first time in November. “If the last election proved anything, it’s that every vote counts.”

While a breakdown of new voter registration data won’t be available for a few weeks, experts predict the number of young people heading to the polls will be way up from four years ago.

In swing states — which South Carolina is not among because of its strong Republican leanings — national parties are working hard to woo new voters. South Carolina, which trails the nation in so many other societal measures, is ahead of the curve when it comes to youth voting.

Since 1972 — the year 18-year-olds were given the right to vote — voting rates among young people nationally have plummeted.

Forty-three percent of 18- to 24-year-old South Carolinians voted in the 2000 presidential election compared with 42 percent nationally.

While that turnout wasn’t great, it beat all of South Carolina’s neighbors — North Carolina, Georgia and Florida.

Even more telling, South Carolina is one of only eight states where voter participation among young people is higher than it was in 1972. Most other states have seen double-digit percent decreases.

Why is South Carolina doing better? Nobody seems to know for sure, but some say history and demographics play a big role:

• Voting among blacks wasn’t as high in the early 1970s as it is today, perhaps because many feared reprisals if they showed up at the polls.

“You gotta remember that in 1972 in the South, it was a very rough climate for those voters,” said Scott Huffmon, a Winthrop University political science professor who studies voting trends.

• South Carolina’s positioning in the heart of the Bible Belt means many young people have been exposed to activism through church-driven get-out-the-vote efforts.

• And on college campuses, groups like the College Republicans and Young Democrats have built large, grass-roots organizations dedicated to mobilizing young voters and nurturing legions of future party regulars.

“We can get 25 student volunteers out to any football game, all working to register voters,” said Franklin Buchanan, president of the USC College Republicans. “That has a powerful impact.”

Donald Green, a Yale University political scientist, says there are plenty of reasons to worry despite those efforts.

Voting rates for young people still trail the rest of the adult population. Green says far too many candidates are writing off the youth vote and still winning.

“Young people don’t follow (elections) as closely because they’re distracted with other things,” Green said. “When we get older, we become interested in more mundane things in life, like politics.”

Sumner Bender, a 22-year-old who works at a West Columbia insurance company, puts it another way.

“A lot of people only vote — if they vote at all — the way their parents do,” she said, “because they’re too busy to step away from their video games and pay attention.”

Bender says that’s not the case this year, at least among people she knows.

“We all care,” she said, “even if some of us pretend like we don’t.”

ECHOES OF 1992

The last time young, new voters came out in force nationwide was in 1992. Pundits dubbed them the Bill Clinton Generation.

The Arkansas governor made a unique connection with the young set — he played the sax, admitted to having smoked marijuana and seemed just as comfortable chatting with MTV viewers as he did senior citizens.

“It wasn’t Rock the Vote that got young people out, it was Bill Clinton,” Winthrop’s Huffmon said.

Surveys suggest neither Bush nor Kerry have that same personal magnetism with young voters.

Clinton “was willing to talk to young people and willing to listen,” Huffmon said. “Kerry can snowboard and windsurf all he wants, but young voters will probably see him as a rich, white, dork.”

David Stephens, a 22-year-old who works at Sears in Columbia Place mall, says he will vote for Kerry even though he’s not crazy about the guy.

For him, it’s about policy instead of personality.

“I don’t like the way things have been going the last four years,” he said. “ The whole (Iraq) war was based on allegations that weren’t true.”

NATIONAL ISSUES

That’s what makes this election unique. Not only are young people energized, but many say they’re drawn to the issues instead of the candidates.

Polls show three issues weigh most heavily on the minds of young voters — the economy, the war in Iraq and terrorism.

That mirrors the concerns of most adult voters. Perennial issues for young adults, like affordable education, have taken a back seat.

About 75 percent of young people list the economy, war and terrorism as their top concerns, according to the University of Maryland’s Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement.

Some new voters, like Richard West, don’t think those issues are mutually exclusive.

“It’s the war that’s screwing up the economy,” said the 20-year-old Allen University student from Charleston. “It’s made it harder to find jobs, and not just for people of color.”

Like many young South Carolinians, West also is concerned about the safety of friends from high school now deployed to Iraq.

Jessica Geller, a 21-year-old USC student, says the war is an almost inescapable topic on campus.

“It’s always out there,” she said. “I know I’ll probably vote for Bush because I don’t think it’s a good idea to switch things up in the middle of a war.”

As for the U.S. Senate race between Inez Tenenbaumand Jim DeMint, it doesn’t seem to be on the radar screens of too many young voters hanging out at the mall, Stephens says.

“The Senate race? ... That’s the one with Inez, right? That’s about all I know about it.”

Reach Stensland at (803) 771-8358 or jstensland@thestate.com.