The Kids Are Alright - for President Obama
This article sheds light on the impact younger voters had on Obama's second term victory. The President went on to win over 60% of voters below the age of 30 in several states where he had actually lost the majority of voters above that age. It can be seen that young voters have a gigantic impact on the outcome of elections, and it is a demographic that should be marketed towards very heavily. Could it be a bad thing for the nation however if all these people who are likely less knowledgable about politics and government than those who are experienced in picking a good candidate are controlling the outcome of the presidency?
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I think this serves as more evidence that 2008 may have been a realigning election. To say nothing of changing policy, Republicans at the very least need to change image. A recent issue of Newsweek said on the cover "GOP: You're Old, You're White, You're History!" The Republicans have come to be dominated mainly by the white, middle-aged to elderly male voting bloc and it's not so much that individuals of other groups don't exist, it's catering to them and making them feel like they have a niche in the party. The youth and Hispanics are the two largest groups I think need to be targeted.
ReplyDeleteI believe young voters supported Obama because of his social platform. Younger voters tend to be more liberal, and the Democratic party's platform on issues such as abortion and lgbtq rights appeals to many young voters. While it can be argued that young voters may not be as educated as older voters, there are certainly plenty of older voters who are completely clueless about politics and still vote.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with the last point about how older people who know little about politics are voting, while the younger voters are criticized for voting without knowing the facts. This older group is made of voting specialists, defined in our government textbook as "people who vote but do little else and tend not to have much schooling or income and to be substantially older than the average person." There are enough of them that they have an entire category of political participation to themselves, yet the younger generations are still called out for our lack of understanding of politics.
DeleteI agree with Talia and Grace. From what I hear my classmates talking about with their political beliefs and from many pictures and jokes made about members of the Republican, I can assume that younger voters care more about social rights suck as gay marriage, abortion, planned parenthood, etc. and not so much about economic issues. During this election season, I took note of the target groups in campaign ads. I noticed that the Obama campaign had a more diverse amount of commercials towards social and economic values (Planned parenthood/abortion, women's rights, Latino community, African American community... etc.) while the Romney campaign had ads based on Romney's track record and economic issues.
ReplyDeleteWhile young people tend to be more liberal, there are plenty of younger voters who support the Republican party. For instance, the Senior class vote in PHS's mock election was nearly split in half between the parties. While overall as a demographic young voters supported Obama, I think it's fair to say that both sides are represented. (Look at our gov class! :) )
DeleteI would tend to disagree with saying that younger voters don't care about economic issues it is more that they tend to judge candidates on position issues that are distinct differences between the candidates rather than the valence issues which come down to speculation as far as the candidates abilities.
DeleteThis goes back to a factor causing the Republicans to lose this election, a lacking in a good social image. It caused a lot of people to vote for the opposite of Romney, and since they tend to lean more liberal, the younger people were more likely to do so.
ReplyDeleteSince the Republicans tend to target the white, rich older members of society, they failed to capture young voters. The republicans often don't support many issues that younger voters think are important. To be successful, the Republican party needs to broaden who they target.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Grace, practically dead on agree. If the Republicans do not change, no one will side with them. the GOP needs to get their butts off the extreme side of being a Republican and take in some moderate views otherwise, no younger aged people will vote for them. Obama did well with young voters for the sheer fact that he addressed them. He included, in my view, good things for education and wanted to help younger people while helping the older as well. He was much more moderate in wanting to help the country as a whole. I don't mind the Republicans and I would probably side with them if they were not so extreme. They need to realize that they have to stop being extreme in order to get more votes to win the election.
ReplyDeleteThe Republicans should take a step back and readjust their image to appeal to a broader audience. Right now they tend to attract white, older men and, considering the huge impact that minorities and the younger generations have had on the 2008 and 2012 elections, they really need to update their campaign.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what Sara said. The republican party targeted older white men and didn't seem too focused on the younger voters, which could have been crucial for them. I feel like younger or first time voters are more easily swayed from what they hear, instead of actually doing their research on the candidates. The
ReplyDeleteThe Republican party does need to address why they had such a poor turnout of youth voters in comparison to those supporting Obama. I worry how the party plans to address this issue; there is divide within the party between those who suggest the party must do some "soul searching" and those who suggest addressing the large number of existing party members who simply did not vote.
ReplyDeleteOne would think that this situation of young people voting would not be a bad thing for this nation. If I hadn't read this article, I would've thought that votes from citizens under the age of thirty would not make a large difference in presidential elections. Our class talked at great length about the low percentage of potential young voters who actually go out and vote, so I would think that this low percentage would barely be able to affect an entire presidential election. The one part of the article that made me think otherwise was that Obama "won every one of those swing(ish) states because he took more than 60 percent of the vote among those under 30.
ReplyDeleteI think it is a good thing if more young people vote and realize that they can make a difference because that is very important. It also does not surprise me that Obama won so much of the young vote. Many of the issues discussed in debates or in campaigns had a lot of importance to young people.
ReplyDeleteGrace hit the nail on the head with her last point. The voter brackets that should be focused on should be the youth and the Hispanic population. They are both very solid voter groups and could easily help to swing a state or even an election if appealed to properly. If you eliminate the dislocation for the younger age bracket and appeal to the fastest growing demographic in the country the chances of that party winning the election increases tremdously.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the fact that the Republicans definitely need new targets. They really are stereotypically older white, usually middle-to-upper-class, males. Also, they don't appeal to young voters. Obama and the Republicans appeal to college interests which many younger people are into and the Republicans really didn't. THey need to work on getting the younger vote if they want to win.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Sara. The Republican party targets such a narrow group of Americans. Yes, it is vital for them to target the rich, white older members of our country but in order to win an election they must reach many other groups. The younger generation is far more tolerant for issues such as gay marriage and abortion which in my opinion will continually give the Democrats an upper hand.
ReplyDeleteI believe the younger voters were targeted because of a big stance on education. Obama's education plan is very appealing to both young democrats and republicans because education is important for all of us, but that is just my opinion.
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