USA: With only days before mid-term elections President Barack Obama is trying to reignite enthusiasm among young voters

Record ID: 328836

  • Title: USA: With only days before mid-term elections President Barack Obama is trying to reignite enthusiasm among young voters
  • Date: 28th October 2010
  • Summary: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (OCTOBER 19, 2010) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) JULIAN ZELIZER, PROFESSOR OF PUBLIC POLICY, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY, SAYING: "Barack Obama is the establishment. So in 2008, a lot of young people supported him because he was the anti-establishment vote. He was the vote against power, for something new, for change. Now, he controls Washington. And he comes with all the baggage that surrounds that position." WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES (OCTOBER 8, 2010) (REUTERS) STUDENTS WALKING ON THE CAMPUS OF GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY (SOUNDBITE) (English) LINDA WEI, GEORGETOWN STUDENT, SAYING: "The novelty of this like kind of bi-racial President had kind of died down and people also have seen some of his policies haven't worked." (SOUNDBITE) (English) KIERAN RAVAL, GEORGETOWN STUDENT, SAYING: "People aren't necessarily getting what they bargained for. They wanted change. They wanted a new direction for the country. But the debts piling up. The deficit is piling up. The economy is not getting better. Unemployment is still near 10 percent. So I think in terms of Democratic young voters, the enthusiasm is certainly not what it was two years ago." (SOUNDBITE) (English) TAYLOR MILLER, GEORGETOWN STUDENT, SAYING: "When Obama was running, he didn't really have any power, or he wasn't perceived to have any power over the economy. So if the economy went bad, it wasn't really seen as his fault; whereas now a lot of people really do see it as his fault." STUDENTS WALKING ON THE CAMPUS OF GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY (SOUNDBITE) (English) CLAIRE AUSTIN, GEORGETOWN STUDENT, SAYING: "You know, it's not the Obama mania of '08." (SOUNDBITE) (English) CHRIS MOONEY, GEORGETOWN STUDENT, SAYING: "I think some of the enthusiasm since Obama took office has been lost, not just a wearing off since he took office, but also some students are a little disillusioned with how things turned out." STUDENTS WALKING ON THE CAMPUS OF GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (OCTOBER 19, 2010) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) JULIAN ZELIZER, PROFESSOR OF PUBLIC POLICY, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY, SAYING: "The Administration has not done its best to maintain the support and enthusiasm of those who did come out and in 2008. This has been a weakness of President Obama's operation. He didn't capitalize on some of the momentum and some of the energy that emerged in his campaign."
  • Embargoed: 12th November 2010 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Usa
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA1FIOR26A6PR77ZDLWPHI9P0A4
  • Story Text: In the 2008 U.S. presidential election, voters between the ages of 18 and 29 went to the polls in record numbers. Motivated by Barack Obama's message of "hope and change," young voters were a key demographic group that helped propel the junior senator of Illinois to the White House.
    Two years later, with Democratic control of the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate hanging precariously, Obama is trying to spur young voters to cast their ballots for Democrats running in the mid-term congressional election on November 2 with the same infectious enthusiasm that swept him into office.
    But with the economy foundering, enthusiasm among young voters has dampened. Obama has staged a number of rallies across the country, trying to rekindle his magic of two years ago among young voters.
    In this election year, however, the emergent, grass roots Tea Party movement of conservative Republican voters seems more effective in rallying enthusiasm among their voters.
    "I know sometimes it feels a long way from the hope and excitement that we felt on Election Day or the day of the inauguration. But I've got to say, we always knew this was going to take time. We always knew this was going to be hard. I said it was going to be hard, remember," Obama told college students at the University of Wisconsin.
    Analysts say the Democrats are likely to lose their majority in the House, and will see their 10-seat majority narrow in the Senate.
    "They're counting on your apathy, especially the young people here," Obama told a group of students in Marlyand. "They don't believe you're going to come out and vote. They figure Obama is not on the ballot; you're not going to come out and vote. Maryland, you've got to prove them wrong."
    The forecasts of Republican victories have made Democratic political strategists in Washington well aware of the imperative of closing the so-called enthusiasm gap.
    "We saw young people get involved in big numbers in 2008," White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said. "We saw people that had never been involved in these type of political campaigns before registering the vote, exercising -- not only exercising that right but getting involved in actively participating in campaigns, which is good for our democracy. So always in an off-year election you see a drop-off in terms of the types of participation that you normally see in a presidential year."
    But the reason for the drop-off in participation among young voters may go beyond that.
    "Barack Obama is the establishment," said Julian Zelizer, a professor of public policy at Princeton University. "So in 2008, a lot of young people supported him because he was the anti-establishment vote. He was the vote against power, for something new, for change. Now, he controls Washington. And he comes with all the baggage that surrounds that position."
    On the campus of Georgetown University in Washington, DC, even some students who volunteered for Obama's presidential campaign are much less enthused about the Democrats.
    "People aren't necessarily getting what they bargained for," said Kieran Raval, a Georgetown sophomore. They wanted change. They wanted a new direction for the country. But the debt is piling up. The deficit is piling up. The economy is not getting better. Unemployment is still near 10 percent. So I think in terms of Democratic young voters, the enthusiasm is certainly not what it was two years ago."
    More succinct were the words of Georgetown junior Claire Austin: "You know, it's not the Obama mania of '08."
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