Post Midterm Election Youth

Being a 24 year old, I did not vote because I realized too late that there was even an election going on. My 26 year old boyfriend did vote and was enlightened to the idea by “turning on the television”. To me, these forces that impeded him to vote were white noise, just static in the background. I don't know how much of this can be blamed on school work taking up most of my time and how much of this is my own ideas about voting.
I noticed another trend in voting. My boyfriend voted partly because it is a family ritual and partially because he lives in a town in which most of the population is wealthy. According to him it is in his best interest to keep the incumbent and vote Republican for minor elections and go liberal by voting Democratic in presidential elections.
I'm not exactly how commendable this is. On the one hand, he is doing something for the community, to not rock the boat, by sticking to what the town knows. On the other hand, he seems to ignore the real issues at hand and how a different candidate might be able to help those less privileged in the town (he himself is not wealthy) or set higher standards in dealing with political agendas.
Another trend I am seeing is that of the ironically political person who does not vote but posts a bunch of criticisms on facebook about candidates based on the opinions of others, usually entertainment personalities. I fall into this category. I did not know all the issues but it was fun to make fun of Christine O'Donnell. And it's better than posting how I felt about...my breakup...with my dinner...and that's all I have to say about that...clever comment...and random but poignant quote. My school of thought is, “Fake it, til you make it”.
It seems that politics will have to either work really hard to appeal to us or push us so far, as Bush did in his 8 years, that we need to make a change. We'll find out in 2 years, when the Presidential election comes how much the youth really cares. The trend of the midterm elections voting youth has never been high.
Now we will get to know our once-candidates by how much they screw us, how much our parents complain. It's too late.