An Unexpected Low for a Battleground State

     Fairfax Times reported the reasons for why Virginia went blue this election, something that hasn't been seen in forty years.  Fairfax county reported nearly eighty percent turnout for registered voters, which to many counties may seem pretty high.  There were an abnormal amount of younger voters that turned up, accounting for a major reason the state turned democrat this election.  Approximately seventeen percent of the votes came from absentee ballots and even more came from college students driving back to the county from school.  Yet, the Fairfax Times stated that many voters were, "pleasantly surprised at their wait times."  Simply put, more people were expected to vote than actually did.

     From the discussion in class, I thought it was rather interesting that the Fairfax Times noted that voting, in that county, didn't add up to what the media expected it to be.  What role did the media play in elections this week, for fairfax county?  Why is it that an overwhelming amount of young voters turned out instead of an overwhelming amount of elder voters?  I know Obama is deemed as a very good orator, but I don't think that his speeches are what drove these masses.  In my opinion, it was a result of the role that the press has always played in american politics.  There was a clear push from journalists for their own political persuasions.  The stories covered clearly catered more towards the left.  Does it seem right to give the media so much power, to the extent of persuading the public on who to vote for?  I feel that it is good to have this political aspect of the news, but we may have seen it step its boundaries this year.