Buyers’ remorse: Youth ditch Obama

Remember that there is a whole new crop of youth that can vote for the first time in 2012. The first time Obama supporters in 2008 may or may not support him, but I'm willing to bet that they will be replaced by the first time 2012 youth voters.

Kate wrote: Remember that there is a whole new crop of youth that can vote for the first time in 2012. The first time Obama supporters in 2008 may or may not support him, but I'm willing to bet that they will be replaced by the first time 2012 youth voters.

I'll take that bet. Young people are unemployed in record #'s. The group who voted for Obama the first time were voting for a person who offered them hope and a dream (an impossible dream I might add). The new voters now know Obama is just another empty politician. They are young, but not stupid. If anything, that would make them vote for the rep ticket. There is much more hope in a new direction than their is in a direction that is failing miserably. Now, if somehow the economy is crankin' up by election time, Obama will win most likely.

RenegadeCJ wrote:

Kate wrote: Remember that there is a whole new crop of youth that can vote for the first time in 2012. The first time Obama supporters in 2008 may or may not support him, but I'm willing to bet that they will be replaced by the first time 2012 youth voters.

I'll take that bet. Young people are unemployed in record #'s. The group who voted for Obama the first time were voting for a person who offered them hope and a dream (an impossible dream I might add). The new voters now know Obama is just another empty politician. They are young, but not stupid. If anything, that would make them vote for the rep ticket. There is much more hope in a new direction than their is in a direction that is failing miserably. Now, if somehow the economy is crankin' up by election time, Obama will win most likely.

I agree that if the economy is going better by Nov 2012, Obama will win, but I disagree with your assessment of who kids will vote for. They're still gong to vote for Obama. Who is on the other side? They're not going to vote for the W clone (Perry) they're not going to vote for the insane one (Bachmann,) they're not going to vote for the old guy (Paul,) and they're not going to vote for the boring guy (Romney.)

For better or worse, elections are often won on charisma, and Obama has it plenty over these other candidates.

Kate wrote: I agree that if the economy is going better by Nov 2012, Obama will win, but I disagree with your assessment of who kids will vote for. They're still gong to vote for Obama. Who is on the other side? They're not going to vote for the W clone (Perry) they're not going to vote for the insane one (Bachmann,) they're not going to vote for the old guy (Paul,) and they're not going to vote for the boring guy (Romney.)

For better or worse, elections are often won on charisma, and Obama has it plenty over these other candidates.

Not the youth I know. They know Perry is disliked by the Bush family. Can't speak about the others, as they haven't commented on them. What I do know is they won't vote for Obama. If the reps don't have a good "hope and change" platform, they likely just won't vote. They know Obama has failed to help their situation, and if anything, made their future worse by not addressing long term issues.

They are excited about Rubio, and if he were on the ticket for any rep, they would likely vote that way. They like his youth and "american dream" story.

The youth I know are exactly the opposite. We'll see in 14 months.

Interesting.....the youth I know, through my kids, their organizations and facebook friends, are also very disappointed in Obama, he turned out not to be as liberal as they had hoped. But, I would put the chances of their voting for any of the current Republicans at about zero.

And they will vote, they already have expressed their horror at the idea that the Tea Party might gain seats in the senate and are determined not to let that happen.

Whether or not the new crop of youngsters votes for Obama will depend on how successful he is in convincing them to join the ranks of those who vote for their living. He sure can't promise them he'll cut the deficit spending in half if elected to a second term - the 10 year budget he submitted earlier this year precludes anyone believing that this time around. Can't run on being able to bridge the divide when he goes around telling folks to punish their enemies. Can't position himself as a centrist given his Supreme Court nominees, his cabinet appointments and the folks he hired in various czar roles. They really won't be part of the movement to elect the first black president, that's already been done. The youngsters really don't see a whole lot of hope for their future on the horizon and they haven't got much change left in their pockets. Most of them know they aren't going to college unless they are willing to go tens of thousands of dollars into debt due to the out of control college tuition costs federal subsidies for education have caused.

I think he has himself an uphill battle with the youngsters in 2012 myself. Anger aimed at Bush swept Obama into the office, and anger directed at him may well sweep him aside this go around or at least split the vote to such an extent that their vote resembles parity in 2012 more than overwhelming support of that block seen in 2008.

FWIW, I don't think the youngsters these days are going to appreciate being told they have to purchase health insurance any more than they appreciate being told to pull up their pants.

Interesting how our politics seems to be shading our perceptions of young voters. I don't know any young voters.

RenegadeCJ wrote:
I'm pretty disgusted with virtually all politicians as well, since most promises become empty once they reach the power in Washington.

I am seeing this not only in the young, but also people who were volunteering and donating in 2008. There seems to be a very cynical electorate out there who think neither side can solve the current morass.

Will voting be down this time?

Someone posted earlier that social conservative candidates turn off the young, probably, but social conservative voters are more likely to donate and volunteer for GOP campaigns, so ignore them at your own peril.

I know a bunch. Argued with them before the 2008 election. They all voted for Obama. Now, not one plans on voting for him again. My guess is, they won't vote, unless the Obama steps aside, or the rep puts a young energetic person on the ticket.