While some decry 'celebrity' factor, others say young voters believe the U.S. is going the wrong way.

You've lived your whole life as part of the apathetic Gen Y. You don't care about politics, or anything outside of YouTube, reality TV or video games.

Oh, and all the music made during your lifetime sucks. It's got no soul or passion, and it certainly doesn't have the depth the Village People and Meat Loaf had.

Right?

So why all the interest in the next president? Why are so many Yers slapping "Change" stickers to their guitar cases or working the phones at the Republican headquarters in Downtown Indianapolis?

Kiahna Davis, 33, an assistant vice president for Irwin Union Bank and a volunteer for the Barack Obama campaign, said the reason is simple: With an African-American and a woman closer to the White House than ever before, this election is a historic one, no matter who you vote for.

"You are apathetic when, every election cycle, you see two middle-aged white guys running against each other," she said. "If this was an election between (John) McCain and (Joe) Biden, you wouldn't get it.

"Look at John Kerry and George Bush," Davis said. "You look at what you have and you have to wonder, what's the difference? I think now we're seeing the difference."

Polls show that Gen Y could turn out in record numbers to vote on Nov. 4. The question, though, is how many of those voters really know the issues? How many are just caught up in a wave of celebrity -- for candidates on either side?

"A lot of people are interested in Barack Obama because he's some sort of fresh face," said Patrick Burgess, an IUPUI student and a member of the campus' College Republicans. "I've been asking these folks about why they support him, (and) they don't know why. All they know is that he's young. That's it.

"They've seen all these old fogeys around here -- finally, they see someone who's young and are like, 'Oh, I want to follow him.'"

But Jonathan Swain, communications director for the Indiana Democratic Party, believes young voters know enough to understand they're not happy about the direction of the country.

"Maybe they can't articulate specific policies, but I think people overall are unhappy with the existing leadership," Swain said.

Still, in today's culture, it's hard not to get swept up in a candidate's celebrity and overlook his or her positions on crucial issues.

"People are thinking in terms of celebrity more now," said Andrew Levy, a Butler University English professor and political history researcher. "We read about them every day, we cover them every day. We look for certain superficial facts, and then suddenly we're in a political election, and we don't know how to stop thinking about it."

McCain's camp has even gone so far as to compare Obama to the likes of Paris Hilton and Britney Spears in a commercial -- sure, he has the name recognition, but does he have the substance?

"It's beyond dispute that (Obama) has become the biggest celebrity in the world," McCain strategist Steve Schmidt told People.com. "But do the American people really want to elect the biggest celebrity in the world?"

Of course, Sarah Palin hardly exists in pop-culture obscurity. Actress Tina Fey has earned several days' worth of buzz for her dead-on impression of the VP candidate on "Saturday Night Live." With her face and family on magazine covers, a viral Photoshopped bikini photo and an action figure, Palin has caught nearly as much superficial attention as Obama has.

The concern, some young voters say, is that their counterparts might not have developed enough real knowledge about the candidates to make an informed choice.

"We have a lack of people going to the polls with the necessary knowledge," Davis said. "I think this is a voter education issue. I don't think it's an Obama phenomenon."

But presidents courting voters based on celebrity is nothing new, Levy said, noting that even George Washington was an "oversized personality."

"Political voters have always been sold on their personalities," he said.

Obama's strategists, he added, know what they're doing with his image. "They're absolutely experts at branding. It's sort of this hip, gender-neutral, nonthreatening stuff. The marketing of Palin is sort of the old-fashioned culture of politics. They figured out the personality that would sell: the hockey mom who can kill and stuff a moose."

America's first president may have been an oversized personality, but the popular magazines of his day likely didn't put his pop cultural preferences up for a vote. Thanks to Entertainment Weekly (ew.com), young voters can judge Obama and McCain based on their musical tastes (Jay-Z vs. ABBA) or last movie seen ("Shrek 3" vs. "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull").

But Jay Kenworthy, communications director for the Indiana Republican Party, argues that Obama courted his own celebrity, whereas the media created Palin's.

"The Obama campaign really seems like they were going for a celebrity image," he said. "I think it backfired because a lot of people saw that as a lot of show with no substance. With Gov. Palin, I think it was the opposite. I don't think it was intentional, but the McCain campaign has kind of accepted it."

Besides, the McCain ticket isn't running a campaign of cool, and the Arizona senator isn't going to lose votes simply because Obama has the perception of being "cooler," Kenworthy said.

"Running the United States of America should not be a popularity contest," he said. "It's not student government. It's not 'American Idol.' The Obama campaign had tried to paint (McCain) as uncool, and frankly, we don't care if he's cool because people out there take their duty to vote seriously."

True, some voters will blindly follow a candidate based on his or her celebrity, but it's a small group. The important thing, Swain said, is that people are paying attention.

"There are young professionals who are engaged at a level that that age group hasn't been at in a long time," he said.

Vote!

Oct. 6 is the last day to register to vote in the Nov. 4 election.

Where to register: A variety of places, including your county voter registration office or county clerk's office, and any license branch or public assistance office.

More info: www.in.gov/sos or www.rockthevote.com.

Source: Indiana Secretary of State's Office