There was a vast involvement of young people in the Iowa Caucus and the New Hampshire First-In-The-Nation Presidential Primary this year. With that in mind, I think that we should allow 17 year olds to vote in future New Hampshire Presidential Primaries if they will be 18 years of age as of the General Election of that year. It makes a lot of sense to me that if they will be 18 and old enough to vote for in the November Presidential Election, they should be able to formally take part in the process of nominating the President.
I have requested legislation to be prepared on this concept, and would welcome hearing readers' thoughts about the pros and cons of passing it. I do know that it is very important for young people to be involved in the political process, and I was especially delighted to see the awesome participation of young people in Iowa and New Hampshire, particularly on the Democratic side. I'm sure a lot of those out canvassing for candidates and attending rallies and other events during this year's New Hampshire Primary are under 18 as of now, and they probably got to know the issues and the candidates as well or better than a lot of us over 50.
I got involved in politics at a young age. In 1960 I distributed flyers for John F. Kennedy -- I was a young pup then. One of my favorite memories was meeting Bobby Kennedy in Portsmouth as he was campaigning for his brother. In the mid-1960s while still in high school I was selected Portsmouth Young Democrats President and as such met someone who would be a lifelong friend who is now my seat mate in the New Hampshire House -- Paul McEachern. In 1969 I was elected President of the NH Young Democrats, and we became the first "arm" of the Democratic Party nationwide to formally oppose the Vietnam War, much to the chagrin of some of the powers-who-be in the New Hampshire Democratic Party. See, I've been challenging conventional thinking and been an irritating guy for a long time.
I mention all that because I think it is so important that young people feel they do count, because they do. And to allow them to vote in the New Hampshire First-In-The-Nation Presidential Primary if they will be 18 by the time of the November General Election -- and have their votes counted -- would be a good thing to do.
Thoughts?
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