Young Voters Far Less Enthusiastic For Obama This Time Around

One of the most striking phenomenon of the 2008 Presidential campaign was the manner in which Barack Obama’s campaign managed to excite younger voters, especially those in the 18-29 year old age cohort which has typically turned out at the polls far less than older voters ever since being granted the vote by the 26th Amendment. Indeed, voter turnout among this age group was 51.1%, the highest it had been since 1992 when it reached 52.0%, although still not as high as the all-time high for this group, which was reached in 1972 when 55.4% of 18-29 year olds voted. More importantly, though, this group voted for Obama over McCain by the amazing margin of 66% to 32%, thus proving themselves to be a valuable part of the Obama coalition. It didn’t take long, though, for things to start turning sour as the “Hope & Change” of the campaign gave way to realities of governing and the sour economy led many of these voters to realize that the job situation wasn’t good for them at all despite that college degree. By 2010, there was talk that younger voters were starting to feel abandoned by the President and, indeed, voter turnout among this group fell by 50% in the 2010 midterms. Now, with the election campaign coming to a close and the race incredibly close, there are signs that the Obama campaign many not be able to count on this group being as eager to show up at the polls:
The cheering midst of a rally featuring President Barack Obama and a largely college-age crowd of 15,000 on the Oval at Ohio State University would not seem a likely place to encounter those not in the president’s corner.

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