Archive for September, 2009

Despite the overwhelming 68% support that voters in the 18-29 age demographic gave President Obama in last year’s elections, many younger voters are beginning to feel a sense of buyer’s remorse and, more than ever, are beginning to doubt the President’s agenda and Democratic leadership.Below are some key takeaways from some national polls taken within the past week.

According to a recent analysis by Gallup, “Approval of Obama is down among all major age groups over the past month, but the drop has been particularly steep—11 points—among adults aged 18-29”.

An even more recent Zogby International poll finds a much steeper drop among young people. According to Zogby, Obama’s approval rating among the 18-29 demographic has dropped from 59% to 41% in just one month—a stunning 18 point drop. Although Obama’s approval rating declined among all age groups over this period, the drop was by far the steepest among young voters, aged 18-29.

The drop in support among young people for liberal policies goes far beyond a simple judgement of President Obama. Polling over the last week shows surprising, but very encouraging data.

An Economist/YouGov poll taken over the last week includes stunning results for the 18-29 demographic:

• By a 52-48% margin, young people say that Obama says what he thinks people want to hear rather than what he actually believes.

• By a 56-44% margin, young voters say that big government is a bigger threat than big business.

• 49% of young voters say the country is “on the wrong track”. Just 29% say the country is headed in the right direction.

• 35% of voters aged 18-29 identify themselves as Democrats, while 30% identify as Republicans. This is a much closer margin than polls had found just a short time ago.

• Just 15% of young people approve of the job the Democratic Congress is doing. 46% disapprove.

• 83% of young voters say the budget deficit is a big concern for them. This is nearly as high as the number of young people who say the economy is a major concern, indicating that young people see a strong correlation between the two.

• Just 43% of young voters approve of Obama’s handling of the economy.

• Approval of Obama is just one percent higher among the 18-29 age demographic than the 30-64 demographic, showing a much more even level of support among age groups than in last year’s election when Obama won the youth vote by a huge 40% margin compared to 7% overall.

• 62% of young people believe that passage of a democratic reform bill would lead to rationing of healthcare—the highest of any age group.

• Just 22% of young people say they would be better off if a healthcare reform bill passed.

• 41% of young people believe they would pay more for healthcare if the democratic bill passed vs. just 14% who believe they would pay less.

• Only 23% of voters aged 18-29 believe that the stimulus bill will work vs. 46% who say it will not work. Only 21% of young people say the stimulus has worked so far—the lowest of any age group.

Conclusion

Recent polling shows young people are broadly and increasingly skeptical, along with the American public in general about the policies of the democrats and President Obama. The honeymoon between young people and President Obama is over, and with a concerted effort, young people can clearly be won over to the Republican Party since they already agree with many of the Party’s policies.The College Republicans look forward to spreading our message, and taking

Last night, the Howard University College Republicans hosted Michael Steele in a townhall meeting with DC-area college students. The event was heated at times, but was an overall great dialogue about youth activism, the future of politics, and important issues facing our country right now such as healthcare. With GW College Republican Vice Chair Tayler Lofquist, HUCR Chair Brandon Cooper, and former HUCR Treasurer Skyla Johnson serving on the panel with Chairman Steele, the DC Federation of College Republicans had a great time going to this awesome event in support of our fellow CR’s. At such a busy time in the school year, we were pleased with a turnout of almost thirty College Republicans from all corners of the city including, of course, members of our Howard University Chapter.

The Huffington Post, however, unsurprisingly chose to put a bizarre racial spin on the DC Federation presence at the event when reporting that the event “got off to a rather cringe-worthy start when right before the billed "student dialogue" two dozen white members of area young Republicans arrived to sit in the reserved first two rows of the packed room.” It is unclear what they were trying to accomplish with their odd rhetoric, but its demeaning tone towards the students who came out in support of each other deserves an immediate response:

College Republicans in the District of Columbia are White, Black, Asian, and Hispanic, come from all 50 states and around the world, all socio-economic classes, and are all brought together by a common interest in the future of our great nation. As a big-tent organization, there are no prerequisites for membership other than belief in the tenets of limited government and individual liberty embraced by our party’s platform. To suggest otherwise is not only inaccurate, it is patently and offensively wrong.

As a federation, we could not have been prouder of our Howard University chapter which, as one of the youngest chapters in DC, did an absolutely amazing job coordinating a great event. To have the opportunity to come to Howard and support them was a huge honor for all everyone in attendance, and we know that there are great things brewing for them down the pike.

Personally, as the chair of the DC Federation, I have articulated a goal from the start of increasing cooperation between our chapters in taking advantage of the unique opportunities available in Washington, DC, and this event was the embodiment of that idea. It is my hope that, in the future, the vicious far-left media will think for a second before spewing racially offensive rhetoric in place of actually reporting the news.