One of the advantages of being young is that you can change opinions, or even hold contradictory ones at the same time, and be forgiven for it.That may be why it is difficult to get a read on young voters in the current election campaign. Recent stories in this newspaper have reported that they are disillusioned and angry with the downward turn the community has taken and are losing confidence in the economic miracle that has sustained several generations in recent decades.High youth unemployment, poor economic prospects and crime, which has affected people in their late teens and 20s most closely, all contribute to this. And it seems to be for that reason that voters registration among young voters, while still high, is lower than among their elders. And yet these same young people are protesting loudly about being deprived of the vote if they are still away at school, and this election has a remarkably high number of young candidates from all political spectra.So it’s difficult to tell which version is most accurate. The answer is a bit of both. The same idealistic, engaged, articulate and committed young people are the most likely to become disillusioned by politics as usual, and also have reason to be concerned by the poor prospects for economic recovery. If so, it’s not surprising, given the negative tone of the election campaign.One the whole, the One Bermuda Alliance has been more forthcoming than the Progressive Labour Party about its plans and has its criticism of the challenges facing the Island on facts like rising debt and increases in gang violence. And, while there’s still a need to put more flesh on the bones of its policies if only to avoid having them be manipulated they are at least presenting constructive ideas as well as criticisms.So far, the PLP’s campaign has been overwhelmingly negative since the election date was set. To be sure, Premier Paula Cox’s ten-point plan has been publicised and a list of various programmes launched over the last five or ten years is cited. But most of the campaign has been negative and directed at the faults of the Opposition, rather than positive and talking up the PLP’s plans.In this, the PLP seems to be taking a leaf out of US President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign, which spent a good deal of time and money this summer knocking rival Mitt Romney before talking about plans for the future.But for the most part, the 2012 US Presidential campaign was described as one of the most negative on record, in which far more effort was expended on attacking rivals than on promoting ideas, or debating the actual issues. Perhaps that is the PLP’s strategy in this election. If it worked in the US, why shouldn’t it work here?But there were signs towards the end of the US campaign that swing voters were sickening of the negative advertising, and tuning it out. That may be especially so for young voters who tend to be more idealistic than their more jaded elders. Many have the benefit of open minds and are willing to look at different points of view.Then too, their life experiences are different. Some of the PLP’s campaign has focused on the idea that Bermuda should not go “back” to the days before there was a PLP government.For voters under the age of 24, there has been no party in power other than the PLP since they became politically aware. So this kind of message may have less resonance for younger voters.