Choose or lose.

Byline: The Register-Guard

Since the voting age was lowered to 18 more than a quarter-century ago, the steadily declining turnout of voters in the 18-24-year-old bracket has kept them off presidential candidates' radar screens.

Campaign managers saw no benefit in burning precious dollars and staff time on young people who were too lazy, too busy, too cynical, too apathetic - too whatever - to even register to vote.

But the contest between President George W. Bush and Democratic challenger Sen. John Kerry features enough issues of direct concern to young people that it has the potential to entice the "I don't do politics" demographic to change its ways. The impact that 24 million young voters could have on 2004's dead-heat presidential race hasn't been lost on the Bush and Kerry campaigns.

It shouldn't be lost on young people, either. The candidate who can woo and win the tiny pool of genuine swing voters - of which the 18-24 age group is a huge bloc - stands a good chance of capturing the White House. That means this could be the first presidential election since the Vietnam War in which young voters could influence the candidates to give their issues as high a profile as other key topics in the campaign debate.

Battleground states such as Oregon are seeing intense efforts to register young voters this year. The New Voters Project and several other local grass-roots groups with state and national ties are scrambling to sign up as many young people as possible by the Oct. 12 deadline.

The sales pitch isn't as abstract this time. Young people typically dismiss voting as a waste of time because of a perception that there really isn't much difference between major-party platforms.

While that remains true on some issues in the 2004 election, such as the war in Iraq, on others the candidates hold vastly different positions. Bush and Kerry present voters in every age and economic bracket with clear choices on education, health care, the environment, fiscal policy, reproductive rights, stem cell research, the death penalty, global trade, foreign policy, taxes, the USA Patriot Act, energy independence, school prayer, gun control, gay marriage and the selection of U.S. Supreme Court justices, to name but a few.

All the aforementioned issues are relevant to young voters, but spiraling tuition costs, the prospect for family-wage jobs, the availability of affordable health care and the cost of gasoline have immediate pocketbook impact on the 18-24 age group.

In addition, despite credible denials, rumors persist that some form of national service or military draft is on the drawing board. Young people will want to hear the candidates' specific responses to questions about a possible resumption of the draft, especially in light of mounting evidence that the U.S. military is struggling to cover its worldwide commitments.

And even though a compelling case can be made that young voters are being offered unambiguous choices between the major-party candidates, scads of third-, fourth- and fifth-party candidates are available for people who disagree. Write-in tickets with declared candidates exist for the American Party, Concerns of People Party, Constitution Party, Green Party, Libertarian Party, Peace & Freedom Party, Personal Choice Party (featuring famous porn star Marilyn Chambers as its vice presidential candidate), Prohibition Party, Reform Party (Ralph Nader's ticket), three different Socialist parties and the Workers World Party.

Plenty to choose from, and plenty of reason to choose. So unless you're an 18-24-year-old who doesn't care how much it's going to cost you for college, health insurance and a tankful of gas, don't sit this one out. Register, do your homework, and cast what may turn out to be the most important vote of your life.