According to CNN, the GOP debate had a whopping 23.1 million viewers soaking up the information spoken by the 11 Republican candidates. Of those 23.1 million voters, how many watching were millennials?

In an article by Robert Montenegro, he said that it isn’t because we’re not interested, it’s because we’re slightly ignorant, and slightly skeptical of the government. Is this because our families, or families surrounding us, have gone through the Great Recession, unemployment, and are now in the current stage of having a grotesque amount of student loan debt? Is it because we think that even if we do vote, it’s not going to “truly” make a difference, or because politicians don’t care about us, why should we care about them?

I know I used to not be interested in politics because it was boring, I didn’t fully understand what they we’re talking about, and I thought all politicians were a bunch of bull. As I’m older now, I find it interesting to hear what they’re talking about, or not talking about. I still don’t fully understand what they’re talking about, and even though I still think they’re full of bull, we have to have them, so why not pay attention.

I wasn’t able to watch the full debate, but even though I didn’t, and I don’t associate myself with the Republican party, I think it’s still crucial for us as Americans to know what people are talking about, who they are, and what their plans are for our country that we live in.

So, here’s the kicker -- if we don’t start caring, they won’t either. It’s a never ending cycle of support; if we start caring and voting, then politicians will start to cater to our needs. But, if we don’t care, then they won’t either. Maybe they won’t shower us with jobs and half-off tuition, but our voices will be heard and start a change for the years to come.

“If voter turnout among millennials were 75% rather than 25%, issues such as the student debt crisis would rise to the top of politicians' priority lists,” Montenegro said in Why Young People Don't Vote: Part Apathy, Part Frustration, Part Ignorance.

Isn’t this what most of us are constantly complaining about? That we go to get an education because we’re told it’s good for us, to only end up paying off our loan-debt for the rest of our life in a sub-par job. So, what do we do?

According to an interview with Paul Taylor, Executive Vice President of Pew Research Center, we were very pro-government, and voting, back in 2008, but in 2010 our turn-out rate declined. But why is this a big deal; why are there articles out there talking about millennial voter percentage and turn-out rate? Because the baby boomers aren’t going to be here for forever, and we need to start caring.

I used to think that having a young president would be a bad idea -- he, or she, would have no experience, but now I think it’s not only a good idea, but it’s critical to maintain our government. We need a new mindset with fresh ideas. We can no longer live, or think, think like we did in the past.

So, I encourage all millennials, whether you identify yourself as a Republican, Democrat, independent, or whatever, to start reading about the politicians that you will hopefully hear about within the next year. Figure out who they are, what they support, and what they want to change as our President. They have power, but so do we.