Hey, those meddling kids are stealing our script!
Poll shows President Obama ahead, but lagging behind 2008 performance with key voting bloc. Mitt Romney and Republicans working to make headway with said voting bloc. The president working hard to shore up support.
Once thought to be solidly behind President Barack Obama, younger voters burdened by a bleak employment picture, high gas prices and student loan debt are being aggressively wooed by the Democrat and his likely Republican challenger, Mitt Romney.
In 2008, Obama had a 34-point advantage over Republican Sen. John McCain among voters under age 30. He won about two-thirds of the vote in that age group.
But a new Harvard poll suggests the president may face a harder sales job with younger voters this time around. Obama led Romney by 12 points among those ages 18-24, according to the survey. Among those in the 25-29 age group, Obama held a 23-point advantage.
Romney announced Monday that he backs Obama’s efforts to hold down interest rates on college loans, while also making the case that it’s time for younger voters to try a new brand of hope.
"I think young voters in this country have to vote for me if they’re really thinking about what’s in the best interest of their country and what’s in their personal best interest…."
"The president’s policies have led to extraordinary statistics. When you look at 50 percent of kids coming out college today can’t find a job or can’t find a job which is consistent with their skills, how in the world can you be supporting a president that has led to that kind of economy?" Romney said. "I think young people will understand that ours is the party of opportunity and jobs."
And here’s a Karl Rove-organized video:
Obama’s clearly paying attention — he’s in the middle of pulling off the youth vote equivalent of his Jeffrey Goldberg interview–AIPAC speech Jewish double dipper a few months back… a Rolling Stone interview, Jimmy Fallon appearance and campus visits.
For the Huffington Post, the big news in the Rolling Stone interview was the president’s attempt to explain the federal government’s crackdown on medical marijuana dealers (think of it like the president responding to claims that he’s pressuring Israel and talking too much with Iran).
And now… the president slow jams the news (like issuing a Passover message or visiting the Holocaust museum) …
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