Since 1971, when the 26th Amendment to the Constitution was adopted, it has been legal for anyone of at least 18 years of age on Election day to vote (though that right had existed at the Federal election level since 1970, as a provision added to the Voting RIghts Act of 1965).

The result has been, to date, less than earth-shattering.

That may change this election cycle, with the first Generation X’er, Barak Obama, (though he is technically a tail-end baby boomer, having been born in 1961) with a shot at actually winning the White House.

Anecdotal ecidence suggests that Obama pulls vastly more young voters (17-24 range) than other candidates (way too many sources for this – here’s one). 

In the late 90′s and to the current day, evidence has mounted that the decision making capabilities of the average American are somehwat less than desirable until later than previously supposed.  One recent study suggested that while there is individual variation, :

indicates the juvenile brain is still maturing in the teen years and reasoning and judgment are developing well into the early to mid 20s.

Which should come as NO suprise to anyone that has lived through the horror of having Teenage children in the house.

Experts say that even at ages 16 and 17, when compared to adults, juveniles on average are more:

_impulsive.

_aggressive.

_emotionally volatile.

_likely to take risks.

_reactive to stress.

_vulnerable to peer pressure.

_prone to focus on and overestimate short-term payoffs and underplay longer-term consequences of what they do.

_likely to overlook alternative courses of action.

All of which could lead them to do something colossolly stupid, like voting for an empty suit, whose main talent is that he can read a Teleprompter REALLY well, and make it sound inspiring; is married to a woman whose College Thesis suggests a belief in Black Seperatism, who only decided that she was Proud Of America when her husband became the front runner for the Democrat nomination for President; attends what appears to be a Black Seperatist church; who is associated with a domestic (unrepentant) terrorist; and did, from all appearances, nothing during his single partial Senate term, except raise money for his Presidential run.

But I digress.

In the last several years, we have, as a society, determined that are young are, to put it simply, incompetent to make rational and reasonable decisions about many things.

Here in Washington, new restrictions were placed on new drivers.

On a national level, the sale of Alcohol is banned to anyone under 21.

Going back to the study:

It’s one thing to say teens don’t control their impulses as well as adults, but another to show that they can’t, he said. As for peer pressure, the new brain research “gives credence to the idea that this isn’t a choice that kids are making to give in to their friends, that biologically, they’re more vulnerable to that,” he said.

Consider the lobes at the front of the brain. The nerve circuitry here ties together inputs from other parts of the brain, said Dr. Jay Giedd of the National Institute of Mental Health.

This circuitry weighs how much priority to give incoming messages like “Do this now” versus “Wait! What about the consequences?” In short, the frontal lobes are key for making good decisions and controlling impulses.

Brain scans show that the frontal lobes don’t mature until age 25, and their connections to other parts of the brain continue to improve to at least that age, Giedd said.

The inexplicable behavior and poor judgments teens are known for almost always happen when teens are feeling high emotion or intense peer pressure, conditions that overwhelm the still-maturing circuitry in the front part of brain, Giedd said.

Peer Pressure like is found on College Campii, and at Political Rallies.

Different mental capabilities mature at different rates, Steinberg notes. Teens as young as 15 or 16 can generally balance short-term rewards and possible costs as well as adults, but their ability to consider what might happen later on is still developing, he said.

Like the consequences of electing someone completely unexperienced to the highest office in the land, who talks freely about giving credibility to the worst tyrants and bloodiest dictators in the world today, by meetind with them for photo-ops and “talks”.

So, the obvious answer is that if we, as a society deem someone mental imcapable of making a rational decision about something as minor as Alcohol consumption before they are 21 – and while medical studies confirm this judgement – it is irrational on our part to allow them to make what will most likely be – based on medical evidence of mental development – a bad decision.

Repeal the 26th Amendment.  If we think 21 is old enough to buy a beer, then it should be OK to let you vote.

But trying to have it both ways – saying that at 18 you can’t make a considered decision about personal alcohol consumption, but you are mature enough to help decide who the leader of the free world (and keeper of the keys to the Nuclear Button) should be – is less than rational.