Potomac Fever: The young and the restless

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Can POTUS count on youth vote in 2012?

Kevin Prior said...: In the past presidential elections, the President won an overwhelming majority of the youth vote. This was largely because Obama was connected on more social media sites than McCain was and because he tailored his Facebook to appear "hip" to the youth vote.

On the Republican side, Romney needs to start connecting with the youth vote and he needs to do it now; Obama has about a three year head start on him.

I think a smart strategy for the Romney Camp is to play the Olympic card. The idea of a wealthy investor from New England doesn't cast too well on a majority of the youth in the country who are living at home because they can't find jobs out of college (I mean that in a matter of fact way, not a partisan one). I think Romney would have more appeal if he made the argument that the skills that made him successful in the private sector brought this country the 2004 Olympics. This, in turn, allowed the greatest sports team of the past century to light the torch for the opening ceremony (hint: "Do you believe in miracles? YES!" may or may not have been exclaimed by a young Al Michales), but I digress and highlight my personal biases...

The point is Obama has already amassed a large majority of the youth vote while Romney is yet to make inroads. I don't think Romney stands a chance of toppling Obama's dominance among these cohorts. That being said, Romney can lay the groundwork for a demographic shift in the next election.; April 4, 2012 at 8:49 PM

Potomac Fever