WASHINGTON -- More Iowans left their living rooms to caucus with neighbors than ever before. In New Hampshire, local election officials worried about running out of ballots.
The early voting of the past week hasn't settled much but has revealed this truth: Voters are wildly enthusiastic about helping select the next president.
Record turnout in New Hampshire and Iowa was a product of the most unsettled presidential contest in decades, analysts say. There is no incumbent seeking re-election or a sitting vice president looking to advance, and no clear front-runner in either party.
"It's competitive," said Michael McDonald, a political scientist at George Mason University who studies voter participation. "We know that when people are interested and the elections are competitive, people will turn out."
Civics teachers have fretted for years over shrinking voting rates, lamenting that Americans took part in elections in far lower percentages than in many other democratic countries.
That worry is fading, for now.
Voters seem ready to move past the Bush administration, McDonald and other political veterans said. Continued frustration with U.S. involvement in Iraq and concern over the economy and the environment are all motivating participation, they said.
Young people are flocking to the polls in numbers higher than ever before, continuing a trend spotted several years ago.
Voters under age 30, taking part in their first or second presidential election, belong to a deeply involved generation that volunteers at higher rates than their elders, said Peter Levine, director of the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, at the University of Maryland, College Park.
But as they head to the polls, it is not clear whether younger voters are forging lifetime habits or are satisfied with their options.
`The big question'
"The big question has been, would they see voting as a helpful way to do anything about these issues?" said Levine, who surveyed 400 college students last year. "I think that they are ready to get the pitch, but they are not yet sold on the idea that the political system is the way to solve their problems."
Laura Scott, 33, a Sierra Club volunteer from New Hampshire, said candidates were slow to address the issues she cares most about - even after a year of campaigning in her state.
