Is Obama Abandoning Young Voters?; The latest fundraising pitch from the President's former campaign organization aims at a new target.
The emerging split between President Obama and young voters may be occurring more quickly than anyone predicted, judging by a Wednesday email from Mr. Obama's former presidential campaign.</br></br>This report has previously noted how difficult the Obama era has been for the young people who helped to elect him. The left-leaning Center for Economic and Policy Research reports that among recent college graduates age 22-27, a full 45% were underemployed in 2013, meaning they were either unemployed or doing jobs that typically don't require a four-year college degree. And the Pew Research Center says that the so-called millennial generation is "the first in the modern era to have higher levels of student loan debt, poverty and unemployment, and lower levels of wealth and personal income than their two immediate predecessor generations (Gen Xers and Boomers) had at the same stage of their life cycles."</br></br>Looking at recent survey data, former Obama pollster Sergio Bendixen recently told the New York Times that Mr. Obama's onetime core supporters among the young "went on to the next website and then the next click on their computer."</br></br>Now it appears that Mr. Obama is also moving on--to the next generation willing to click the donation button on barackobama.com. And the speed of Mr. Obama's generational pivot appears stunning. As recently as February of this year, an Obama fundraising pitch made one wonder if its intended recipients were even old enough to vote. "Warning: Cute animals inside," announced the subject line. The text of the email then urged Obama supporters to send Affordable Care Act valentines. "Choose your favorite -- we've got kittens, pandas, badgers, and more. Then click to share it with your special Facebook friends," it helpfully suggested.</br></br>Just three months later, a message from Organizing for Action to Obama supporters emailed yesterday announces that "When James Taylor plays an outdoor concert in Chicago next month, two VIP backstage tickets will be reserved for OFA supporters like you."