During last night’s presidential debate between Senator Barack Obama and Senator John McCain, we asked you to tell us if you heard the candidates talk about the issues on Qvisory’s Agenda.
- Quality health care that young people can afford
- Fair pay for all
- Programs to make college affordable for all
- Fair credit card practices
- Responsible, accessible loans for first-time home buyers
- Flexible work arrangements
- Green collar jobs
Over the last few weeks, members of our community have told us which of our issues matter most to them. After the debate, we compared how many people told us they heard about an issue with how many people said that issue mattered most to them. We learned a lot.
Our community clearly told us that quality, affordable health care was their top priority, and last night that issue got more play from the candidates than anything else on our list. After health care, the candidates spoke about home loans, and college affordability more than our other issues. When our community voted, they said these issues were tied with fair credit card practices and fair pay legislation in importance, neither of which got discussed at all in the debate (except for when Obama compared McCain’s health care plan to credit card deregulation).
So, as far as our issues go, the debate was a mixed bag. When watching it, I was struck by the fact that even when discussing an issue on our agenda, neither candidate really talked about how the issue affected young people. When McCain talked about housing, he talked about keeping retirees in their homes, but didn’t mention that it is the youngest families who are projected to see the sharpest falloff in wealth because of the collapse of the housing bubble. When Obama discussed college loans, he was as likely to talk about parents struggling to send their kids to college, as he was to talk about graduates struggling for years to pay of their debt.
Over the next month, we need to remind the candidates: Young people are voting in record numbers, so we expect the candidates to pay attention to the way issues impact us.
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