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| Written by Kim Kozlowski | Thursday, January 26, 2012 |
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When Lizzie Shubin was attending Western Michigan University during the last presidential election, almost all of her peers were supporting then-candidate Barack Obama. But Shubin was lined up behind Texas Congressman Ron Paul, who so far has captured the votes of young people as Republican candidates duke it out in the primaries for the presidential nomination and head to Michigan next month.
"He is principled," said Shubin, 25, who is now volunteering for Paul's campaign in her hometown of Ann Arbor. "He has stuck to his guns no matter if it's a popular idea or not. So we can trust him. I find that rare in a politician."
As the GOP primary season continues, the race is on forthe critical youth vote, which was an unprecedented voting bloc for Obama and helped lead him to a victory in 2008. Many young people are discouraged by the poor job market, but experts point to the occupy movements to show they are not disengaged politically.
Historically an underappreciated constituency by politicians since they don't always vote, young people now are being courted by Republican presidential candidates to help them oust Obama from the White House.
Experts say this is a good strategy for the GOP candidates since a recent poll showed Obama's support among young people is waning.
The December poll released by the Harvard University Institute of Politics showed youth support for Obama is at its lowest level, 46 percent, down from 58 percent in November 2009.
It also showed that more young people thought Obama would lose the election than win it, though most said they would vote for Obama over Mitt Romney if Romney lands the Republican nomination.
"Young people are part of a significant coalition who helped elect Obama," said John Della Volpe, the institute's polling director. "(His campaign) needs to focus on motivating them so they turn out and vote."
Harvard's Institute of Politics has been tracking the youth vote for more than a decade. Up until 2010, there had been more engagement, participation and excitement among youths regarding politics, Della Volpe said.
The main drivers of this generation's political awakening, Della Volpe said, was the awareness following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the evolution of social media and the election of Obama, who used technology to organize and communicate unlike anyone had before.
"Since then, it's been hard to govern based on the partisanship in Washington," Della Volpe said. "It's been hard to get the economy back on track, and young people are now questioning somewhat the efficacy of their vote. They are disappointed. Their expectations were high. They told us in the last couple surveys they are not sure they want to participate in 2012 in the same level they did (in 2008)."
There are approximately 46 million 18- to 29-year-olds currently eligible to vote, which makes up 24 percent of the eligible voting population, according to the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement at Tufts University in Massachusetts.
During the 2008 presidential election, an estimated 22 million people under age 30 voted — an increase of 2 million over 2004.
It was one of the highest numbers of young voters ever recorded.
Youth voters preferred Obama over Republican nominee, Arizona U.S. Sen. John McCain, by a 2-to-1 margin.
"The Obama camp took the courageous step in allowing its organizers to develop their own techniques and messages," Levine said. "That meant a lot of young people were doing things like interviewing each other and developing messages that would work in their communities."
Young people went on to help Obama win the Iowa caucuses, beat Hillary Clinton in the primary and win the presidency.
But most agree that the honeymoon for Obama is over, even among youths. So far in the GOP primary, Paul has won the youth vote in New Hampshire, Iowa and South Carolina.
"A lot of the interest in the primary is around Ron Paul because there is such a surge of young voters for him," Levine said.
"The secondary question is, is anybody else going to make inroads with young people among the Republicans."
Republicans for Romney
In Michigan, some candidates have garnered the support of young people, such as Michigan State University student Nicholas Kowalski.
He has been supporting Romney since he was 16 and saw him at a speech in Southfield. Since then, he founded the university's Campus Conservatives and is now actively working to support Romney's campaign.
Kowalski, 20, spent nearly 48 hours on a bus earlier this month, traveling to Iowa to make calls to drum up support for Romney before the caucuses.
He is excited to cast his first vote for president during the Feb. 28 Michigan Republican primary, and speaks passionately about his support.
"Mitt is the only candidate that has the public and private experience necessary for the job of turning this country around," said Kowalski, who pointed to Romney's leadership in the private sector and as Massachusetts' governor. "No other candidate has that breadth on their resume. The mix between his public and private experience is what sets him apart from the rest."
Dearborn resident Justin Grajek, 18, is torn between GOP candidates Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum because he supports their positions on several social issues such as gay marriage, contraception and abortion.
"I'm Catholic and both of those candidates are Catholic," Grajek said. "Rick Santorum fits my values the most, but I don't think he's as strong of a speaker or as bold as Newt. I think Newt would be able to hold off better against Obama."
Obama camp ramping up
Meanwhile, an effort is under way to re-energize youth who supported Obama in 2008.
The College Democrats at the University of Michigan have been working on building membership by bringing in new people, especially freshmen, and organizing volunteers. But some say that it's still early to get students engaged.
"We're definitely seeing a lot of people wanting to get involved, asking what they can do to help get Obama re-elected," said Amanda Caldwell, chair of the College Democrats at U-M. "There's definitely a lot positive movement but not as much as we saw. But I definitely expect to see as many people out volunteering next fall.
"People who supported Obama in the last election are definitely going to support him again." |
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