Obama leading McCain among Xbox voters. But will they stop playing long enough to actually vote?

The presidential race between Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama is a virtual dead heat in much of the real world. But it's not so close in one virtual world.

Obama leads McCain 43% to 31% among the nearly 100,000 votes cast as of Friday on Xbox Live, according to Microsoft, which runs the online game service. The voting is part of a partnership between Microsoft and Rock the Vote, which allows Xbox 360 users to cast their presidential preferences via their game controllers.

The initiative also allows Xbox Live members to register to vote for real. So far, 55,000 registration forms have been downloaded since the program began on Aug. 25, the first day of the Democratic National Convention. (You've got to be 18 to vote, but there's no age restriction on the Xbox Live poll.)

Rock the Vote, which mobilizes young people to get involved in the political process, wants to register 2 million young voters for this fall's election. The group noted that if XBox Live were a state, its 12 million members would make it the country's 7th largest, with the same number of electoral votes as Ohio.

But Xbox Live isn't a state in play. It's a state of play, where making a presidential choice can be done with a flick of the thumb in about the time it takes to slice up a Jawa in Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. Casting a real ballot is much harder: You can't do it from the comfort of your home; it often involves more cumbersome technology; and the lines can be long (for gamers who've never voted, think of the wait some people endured to get their hands on the Xbox 360 when it was released).

So although Xbox Live users represent a chunk of the youth demographic, which could swing key states such as Nevada, a big question remains: Will online gamers rip themselves away from the likes of Guitar Hero and Madden NFL 09 to go to the polls Nov. 4?

-- Jim Puzzanghera

Photo: Xbox 360 controller. Credit: Dominic via Flickr

Comments

[lol]

Lol... 99% of the people on xbox live are below the voting age.. Kids don't know anything about politics.
probably 9 out of every 10 of those kids think Fascism and Communism are the same.

[Matt]

Actually, well over 50% of gamers are over 25 years old. I'm 19, and I did take part in this poll. I can tell you that I am not only taking time to vote, but I'm also volunteering for the Obama campaign at my university.
I'm disappointed that the older generations don't believe in our ability to form our own opinions. The majority of college-aged kids aren't supporting Obama because he's a "celebrity" or that he's young and hip - we're doing it because we support his stance on the issues. We're not as dumb as you think.

[MrJingles]

Ummm Matt, are you not as dumb as some think? The fact that a majority of younger voters, college voters, and African Americans vote democratic means that you are a statistical stereotype....WAY TO GO!!! I was not aware that Obama made a stand on any issue, but thanks for stating the commercial line of "Obama is a celebrity." LOL, they should be teaching you about unbiased opinions in higher education...but whatever.

I just think it is funny that a college student votes and volunteers for a democratic canidate, spits out some tv rhetoric, and condemns older generations that we don't believe that the younger generations can't make up their minds. Here is a good question, "how many college professors are actually republicans and/or leave you to your own opinions?" I know during the Bush vs Kerry election we had professors from multiple schools wearing Kerry propaganda...since it is illegal for a professor to "verbally" press their opinions onto the students.

Getting back to subject, a lot of Xbox Live voters are either too young, are just messing around, and/or probably won't go vote anyway. Besides, 100,000 votes from across the nation isn't even a valid survey......that's right let's not forget this is a simple yes or no survey. How votes were casted is that the gamer downloaded the desired gamer pict (Obama '08 or McCain '08), that was considered a vote. I know a lot of gamers probably downloaded both because gamers love free stuff. To point out the further validity of this process, I personally got sick of hearing gamers say they were going to vote for McCain/Palin Nov 4 simply because Palin is "Sexy." I hope this ideal can't be generalized to the entire US population...

[Abdul]

@Matt - I don't suppose your friends are doing the same are they? ;) Dare to be different! -Wait 10 years and see what you think....

[reader of forums]

interesting idea thought i dont really think have of the people are acully going to vote if it means getting of halo 3 if you know what i mean

[Adam Jones]

Actually, Jim Puzzanghera, anyone can vote from the comfort of their own home via absentee ballot. That's how I voted during my first year of college, and that's how my brother in Iraq will vote this November. I recommend that anyone who might be too busy to make it to the polls request an absentee ballot now.

[Jim Puzzanghera]

Excellent point on absentee voting, Adam. I should have pointed that out in the post. Although as you noted, people do have to request the ballot, so it requires a bit more effort than casting a vote in the Xbox Live poll. But it still doesn't require you to leave the house and go to the polling place.

[visitor]

"Ummm Matt, are you not as dumb as some think? The fact that a majority of younger voters, college voters, and African Americans vote democratic means that you are a statistical stereotype....WAY TO GO!!!"

Because he may fit a pattern amongst college-educated voters, that makes him dumb/unable to intelligently decide? Based on your own comment, that's pretty ironic coming from you.

The younger generations are increasingly becoming more involved in politics - both democrats and republicans. Assuming that because of our youth we're inherently less capable of making a well informed decision or believing that because someone is over 40 they're inherently better informed on present day policies only shows your own ignorance.

[Henry Dubb]

What about the other 25% of the vote. At least have the decency to give the full results. There are more than two candidates in the race, and some of us want to know how our preferred candidate did.

[Jim Puzzanghera]

Henry,
I didn't post the other results because they were vague -- 13% were undecided and 13% were listed as "other." Xbox Live did not breakdown the "other" category. They are going to release more data as the campaign progresses and I'll try to get the breakdown on the other candidates the next time I write about it.

[Cru]

To be honest, I'm tired of living in the civic and baby boomer generation's world. I want X and Y to finally be given the respect everyone murmurs about but never shows. I think this election will show an increase in youth votes because it's the first time that people like me, who turned 18 after 9/11 will actually have a chance to vote in a fresh election cycle where there isn't an incumbent. Generation Y is a lot more civic than you think, and even though we're playing video games, one of our defining characteristics is multitasking in an overstimulating world. This is basically the "who do you want leading you into your thirties" vote from the youth perspective. I have a hunch it's the one who's familiar with a computer (save the excuses about war injuries, if he can hold a pen, he can hold a mouse.)
The world will evolve on the level of the past 50 years in far less time. I think the youth understand that, and see last generation's ideas as based on expecting 50 years worth of progress in 50 years time.. too slow. Obama's line of a vote about past vs future really resonates with me. And yes, I will put my controller down to cast a vote, just like I did in the primaries.

[Silzilla]

MRJINGLES, LOL,

I am 29 years old, and college educated, a professional, a veteran of the US Army, and I play video games (though on the PS3, not XBox). I know it is hard to believe, but the largest group of gamers for XBox is 18-25. If Microsoft is betting Billions of dollars on that demographic being correct, I doubt most Xbox gamers are as young as you think.
The comment "statistical stereotype" inicates a poor understanding of proper grammar, as an accurate stereotype is derived from statistical analysis, and therefore the "statistical" is assumed by the definition of the word "stereotype". Even more troubling is the willingness to make a comment about a subject that is obviously not understood. The conclusion that 100,000 people is not a big enough sample size is incorrect. It is actually more accurate within its demographic than most national polls. Please realize that most national polls use a sample size of about 1,000 people.
The notion that as you age you become less concerned about the welfare of the country and its citizens at every economic level is absurd. Unfortunately the idea of a greater social resposibiltiy is lost on the majority of "older" voters. (evidenced by the selection of George W Bush, and his subsiquent re-election)yet the same idea is what motivates the younger generation, so don't worry; we are strong enough, intelligent enough, and determined enough to pick up the peices of what your generation has left, pay off your generations debt, and correct your generations mistakes, so that we can emerge once again as the shining beacon of freedom, and democracy in the world.
We will do this without your help, even though it will benefit you directly, and we wont expect anything in return.

You're welcome in advance
Obama/Biden08 FTW

[Jimi]

To the person who thinks 99% of the people on XBL are under voting age: you are a moron. I play on XBL a lot, and I am 18 and most people I meet are older than I am. If you look at the number of people using each gamerpicture the difference in percentages is even bigger. There is a higher percentage of black people on XBL than in the general population, so that (probably) helps Obama.

[Experience]

Silzilla, you sound like an intelligent and educated person. Unfortunately that does not give you the life experience that many of the older voters have.
Just because a socialist idea sounds great, doesn't meen it is any good in practice. You need to look at how Obama's ideas have affected other contries where they have already been tried. You are fooling yourself if you think our politicians will do a better job deciding how you will live, how you children will be raised, etc. than those in other nations.

Obama does not have the experience in many aspects to make good choices nor does he act like a leader. I cannot say that I love everyting about McCain, but he is looking out for his country and it's citizens. McCain is out to protect our Constitution and our freedom. Obama only seems to be looking out for his political carreer (or his celebrity status.)