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Posted on 04/30/2012 3:37:11 AM PDT by Kaslin
Last week, Barack Obama delivered speeches at universities in Chapel Hill, N.C., Iowa City, Iowa, and Boulder, Colo. The trip was, press secretary Jay Carney assured us, official government business, not political campaigning.
It's part of a pattern. Neil Munro of the Daily Caller has counted 130 appearances by the president, vice president, their spouses, White House officials, and Cabinet secretaries at colleges and universities since spring 2011.
Obviously, the Obama campaign strategists are worried that he cannot duplicate his 66 to 32 percent margin among young voters back in 2008.
Recent surveys of young people show inconsistent results. Gallup's tracking shows Obama leading Mitt Romney 64 to 29 percent, and a Harvard Institute of Politics poll shows him leading Romney 43 to 26 percent among those who said they had an opinion.
But a March survey of 18- to 24 year olds by the Public Religion Research Institute showed Obama ahead of "a Republican" by only 48 to 41 percent. Only 52 percent had favorable opinions of Obama, and 43 percent had unfavorable opinions.
Where the surveys seem to be in accord is that young voters are less engaged, less likely to vote and less enthusiastic about Obama than in the days when he was proclaiming, "We are the change we are seeking."
Gallup shows only 56 percent of Americans under 30 saying they definitely will vote. Among older Americans, the figure is over 80 percent. The most recent NBC/Wall Street Journal poll showed only 45 percent of young people taking a big interest in the election, down from 63 percent in 2008.
Hispanics and blacks make up a larger share of the Millennial generation than of older Americans, and Obama's support among them seems to remain high. But the Harvard survey shows that only 41 percent of white Millennials approve of Obama's job performance, significantly lower than the 54 percent who voted for him in 2008.
Obama's decision to campaign -- er, conduct official business -- on university campuses last week was not surprising. According to exit polls, there was no surge of young voters in 2008. They made up 18 percent of voters, compared to 17 percent in 2004.
But close inspection of the election returns showed that the Obama campaign did a splendid job of ginning up turnout in university and college towns and in singles apartment neighborhoods in central cities and close-in suburbs, like Arlington, Va., across the Potomac from Washington.
Consider the counties where Obama spoke last week. In Orange County, N.C., Obama won 72 percent of the vote. He did better in only one of the state's 99 other counties, Durham, which has a large black population plus Duke University.
Obama carried Johnson County, Iowa, with 70 percent of the vote, more than in any of Iowa's other 98 counties. He carried Boulder County, Colo., with 72 percent, a mark exceeded in that state only in Denver, one rural Hispanic county and two counties with fashionable ski resorts (Aspen, Telluride).
What Obama doesn't seem to have done in 2008 is mobilize more economically marginal and educationally limited young people, except perhaps among blacks.
His problem this year is that there are a lot more economically marginal young people, including many who are not educationally limited.
Young people are notoriously transient, and it's hard for political organizers to track them down. Harder perhaps this year, with many recent college graduates unable to find jobs and a rising percentage of young people moving in with their parents.
Few young Americans bothered to vote in Republican primaries, and young people's attitudes toward Mitt Romney seem frosty. They still know little about him.
That gives him a chance to argue that Obama's economic policies have failed and that his policies can spark an economic revival that will provide myriad opportunities for the iPod/Facebook generation to find satisfying work where they can utilize their special talents.
In his campus speeches, Obama stumped for keeping low interest rates on student loans. But young people may be figuring out that colleges and universities are gobbling up the money government pours in, leaving them saddled with debt.
It's a side issue. The Harvard survey showed 58 percent of Millennials saying the economy was a top issue and only 41 percent approving Obama's handling of it. Like Romney, they seem to be saying, "It's the economy, and we're not stupid."
I suspect...out of every ten voters that went for the President in 2008...two of them either won’t vote or will vote for Mitt. If Mitt only gets the same number of voters as McCain...it’s pretty much a lost race for the President. And we haven’t even gotten around to Latino voters who might swing just for VP Rubio.
Rock Stars?
Tell me, has anybody taken a close look at ANY Rock Stars lately??
ANY of them??
He can tell you how the vote broke down in the 2008 election in obscure Sciota County, Ohio and what it means.
If Carney says so, then you can be sure it was. I have never seen more bull come out of somebody's mouth than Carney's mouth. He is so corrupted.
Voter fraud will rule the day, this is all a smoke screen. The fix is in and Romney will go the way of the wind like Mccain all the rinos will be happy to hold on to thier jobs maybe get the senate, and continue to help the gangland bosses rape and pillage.
. . proving yet again that ya can’t buff a turd
I remember when I was at the University of Iowa in 2008 almost everyone was head over heels for this dope. I bet you he isn’t so cool when you realize there might not be a job for you adultery graduation and your loans go into default.
Adultery = after stupid iPad spell check.
The trip was, press secretary Jay Carney assured us, official government business, not political campaigning.
Meaning we paid for the trip and not Obamaa’s Campaign fund.
Nothing new here, Obama has been describing his campaign as official since it’s birth so he doesn’t have to pay for it.
Our Representatives in Congress just sit there and let him get away with this theft.
Yes!!!! THEFT.
P.S. The Wookie is flying all over the country on another airplane doing the same thing.
Two thieves
Are you talking about Sandra Fluck?
I dont want a rock star.
I want a Calvin Coolidge.
What? did he run out of coke and groupies?
Yes, actually I have.
'Pock Stars' Eric Clapton looks good. Mark Knopfler (Dire Straits) looks good. Hank Marvin(1) (The Shadows - 'Apache') looks good. Robbie Robertson (The Band) looks good. Ted Nugent looks good. And the oldest of the bunch of 'Rock Stars', Duane Eddy, looks pretty darn good too. Natch they look older but aged very well. And iirc Hank Marvin still wears those 'geeky' Buddy Holly style glasses.
But if you mean 'today's Rock Stars', I guess there aren't any as rock is kind of dead (or in a slight coma). The closest thing to Rock today is Country, like Brooks and Dunn (My Maria, Boot Scootin' Boogie), or like Toby Keith (Beer for my Horses).
(1) An aside:
The Shadows and Hank Marvin with his Fiesta Red Fender Stratocaster were so famous in the UK that all other bands tried copying them. And for that reason the Beatles intentionally stayed away from playing Fender guitars and particularly Stratocasters as they wanted to be completely different from all the other British Bands of that era. So in the early days John and Paul played Hofner guitars and George played a Rickenbacker (and a Hofner too iirc).
interesting guitar player info} Hank Marvin is probably the best 'Whammy Bar' player ever. He had to make use of it on his Strat as he couldn't bend the guitar strings properly in his early days. (Search YouTube for Hank Marvin, 'Sleepwalk', for one beautifully 'whammy bar' played song)
And they’re doing it to what looks like a 17 year old KID for heavens sake.
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