Young voter group: 'Wary of the future'

ByABC News
October 6, 2008, 12:46 PM

— -- When Dante Butler, 28, thinks about voting for president, he keeps his 16-month-old daughter, Kylie, in mind.

"I know that what goes on is going to affect her in the future as far as the things available for her," Butler says. His big concerns: The economy, the Iraq war, Social Security and jobs. "Just jobs having jobs here for the American people and not sending everything to India and China and overseas."

Butler is among the "downbeats," a group of younger Americans that includes twice as many pessimists about the country's future as any other category. They tend to have more negative views of both candidates the most likely to say that John McCain is too old to be president (44%) and that Barack Obama lacks enough experience for the White House (50%).

Half call themselves independents, the most of any young voters' group, and most see themselves as independent-minded. Given a list of six options, including parents, friends and celebrities, no one in this group said any of them had "a great deal" of influence on their political views.

Their ranks include the highest percentage of liberals and the lowest percentage of Republicans of any category.

Butler works during the day as a facilities manager and attends Loyola University Law School at night. He moved to New Orleans from Jacksonville after Hurricane Katrina to help rebuild the city.

"I view John McCain as George Bush," Butler says. "I think he'll follow some of the same economic plans as George Bush has put together, and that's going to make the economy worse." He says Obama would adopt some of President Clinton's economic plans, "and we had a big boom of economic growth at that time."

"I feel as though Barack shares my vision as far as one of the most important things, universal health care, and I believe he truly wants to come up with an exit strategy out of Iraq," Butler says. And there's this: "Barack has two little girls, and I know he'd want the same things for my little girl as for his."