Democrats ?ght for youth vote

In 2008, Barack Obama had a charisma that inspired millions of young people to not only vote for him, but also campaign for him.

But four years later, as the post-graduation job hunt remains a challenge for young voters, the enthusiasm Obama inspired has waned.

According to Public Policy Polling, a left-leaning polling firm based in Raleigh, Obama won the youth vote by 34 percentage points in 2008. Now, he is still winning the youth vote, but by 28 percentage points — and young voters are not as motivated to campaign for Obama as they were four years ago.

“After four years of watching our friends graduate and not finding jobs, I think a lot more young people are ready for a change,” said Garrett Jacobs, chairman of UNC College Republicans.

Jacobs said he has talked to many students who voted for Obama but are now leaning toward Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.

In North Carolina, Obama leads Romney among young voters by 62 percent to 30, said Tom Jensen, director of Public Policy Polling.

The Democratic Party has been making a conscious effort to appeal to youth voters, especially during the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, which starts today.

During the pre-convention CarolinaFest Monday, Democratic National Committee chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz spoke at a meeting geared toward youth leaders about the importance of motivating young people this election.

“We can carry Barack Obama to a second term in the White House on the shoulders of America’s young people,” she said to applause.

Jensen said Republicans could have appealed to more young voters this year — with a different presidential candidate.

“Even if young people aren’t necessarily thrilled by Obama, I don’t think they necessarily see Romney as a strong alternative,” he said. “This may be a case where they’re voting for Obama because they see him as the lesser of two evils, but they’re not necessarily in love with him as they were in 2008.”

But Paul Conway, president of Generation Opportunity , a conservative group that aims to mobilize young voters nationwide, said Romney’s struggles to connect with youth might not cost him votes, adding that in a recent poll, the majority of young voters said they would vote on issues and the candidate’s record in office rather than charisma.

Conway said, as of July, youth unemployment is at 12.7 percent nationwide, with 1.7 million people not counted in that figure because they have stopped looking for work.

“(Romney’s) new, and he represents an alternative to what is now seemed as the status quo,” he said. “Even for someone who was just elected just three years ago — three years is a lifetime.”

Jensen said 59 percent of young voters nationally approve of Obama. In comparison, 33 percent have a favorable opinion of Romney.

He said the youth vote made the difference for Obama in 2008, but it remains uncertain whether young voters will have as high of a turnout rate as they did four years ago.

And Conway said Obama’s re-election hopes will depend on youth turnout.

“It’s one of the few areas he actually won decisively last time,” he said. “It’s truly considered a swing vote.”

Tom Carsey, a UNC political science professor, said in an email that youth voters today have experienced a different four years than the youth voters in 2008.

“The economy remains sluggish, the Iraq war has virtually disappeared as a salient political issue, and the political context has changed,” he said. “Obama was the relatively new face and the challenger to a party with an incumbent president that was not very popular at all. Now Obama is the incumbent — not the new face — and his popularity more mixed.”

Conway said Obama’s 2008 campaign invested millions of dollars in time and technology to appeal to youth voters. And the president has made an effort to keep connected with young people throughout his term, traveling to high schools, colleges and universities 437 times while he’s been in office.

“That’s a strong sign that they’ve tried to remain connected at a time where more and more young people are feeling disconnected,” Conway said. “Oftentimes, people dismiss the youth vote, and I don’t know why.

“These are the next generation’s leaders — why wouldn’t you spend your time on them?”

Contact the desk editor at state@dailytarheel.com.