Sen. Barack Obama clinched the Democratic presidential nomination to a large extent because he inspired, energized and mobilized the youth vote. Young people often express a boatload of enthusiasm for a candidate, but then they fail to translate that enthusiasm into votes. But in the primaries the younger set actually turned out in droves to vote for Obama.
But that’s ancient history and now we are in the midst of the general election — will the youth vote turn out in November for Obama?
The cynics claim that young voters won’t be able to pull themselves away from their iPods and laptops and vote this November.
But I disagree, the iPod generation sees Obama as one of their own. Obama has that “coolness factor” that strikes a chord with young folks. Obama shoots hoops, he’s comfortable with an iPod or a Blackberry, and he has tons of charisma.
Am I saying that young people are superficial? Many of them are, and they want to be associated with the Obama brand name
But it’s not just the young who are enthralled by Obama, journalists are searching their thesauri for superlatives to describe the Obama phenomenon.
But McCain is not giving up on the youth vote:
“‘John McCain sees young voters as a competitive demographic this year,” said McCain youth outreach spokesman Joe Pounder, ‘and we’re going to go after them.’
To do that, the McCain campaign says it will focus on his legacy as a war hero, plus appearances on late night television shows - including Saturday Night Live - and town hall meetings around the country. He also has an army of thousands of young volunteers, thanks to Young Republican and College Republican clubs around the country connecting with peers over the phone and through canvas drives.” — Quotation from NPR
McCain’s legacy as a Vietnam war hero doesn’t mean Jack to young people, and his appearances on late-night comedy shows are an embarrassment.
You have to reach young people where they live, and in today’s high-tech world they live online. Obama used the Internet to raise oodles of money, and to reach young people. McCain doesn’t even know how to go online, and he’s never sent an email. Need I say more?
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