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Demos just released new comprehensive polling about the opinion of young adults. Politically the most interesting data point that stuck out for me is their finding that an overwhelmingly 68 percent of young people say it is harder for them to make ends meet now than it was four years ago. From the poll results:
- Sixty-eight percent of young Americans believe that it has become harder to make ends meet over the past four years, since the economic and financial crisis began.
- Latinos feel the shift more acutely; 78 percent report that it has become harder or much harder to make ends meet. Sixty-nine percent of whites and 66 percent of males agree.
Regular peoples’ answer to the basic question “are you better off than you were four years ago?” is one of the most important determining factors for an incumbent president’s re-election prospects. The answer is especially important this cycle given that economic issues have been the dominate concerns of voters. Among young voters the answer to whether they’re better off is currently an overwhelming NO.
This poll should be extremely concerning to Obama’s campaign. He depended on high turnout among young voters and Latinos to make up a large part of his winning coalition in 2008.
The uncomfortable reality for the Obama campaign is that if most young people feel their economic standing has gotten worse under his tenure, it’s going to be very hard to get young voter excited about ensuring Obama runs the country for another four years.
20 Comments
Too bad it’s too easy for the MOTU to trick most adults into voting against their own interests.
I’m, not young, anymore, BUT, my situation hasn’t changeed in 25 years. In fact. my wife and I, who live a very frugal lifestyle BECAUSE I saw this coming, are working harder and making less than we did 20 years ago. We would slip out of the middle class if one of us lost our job.
Way to lose an entire generation of voters, Mr. Blue Dog President. What a schmuck.
I don’t disagree, but I have a hard time seeing who adults can vote for to actually represent their interests. The whole system is corrupt.
Isn’t it interesting that obama & co. were not only able to trick adults into voting for him, but young people? He was marketed like that “sweet, sweet cereal” that we know so many young people like. It’s so obvious that obama is a fraud – it’s hard for me to believe that anyone would support his re-election. I will vote for a third party or just do a write-in.
I hear ya I lost my job in July of 2010 if it wasn’t for SSDI I would be in deep shit. It’s a crime that many people are one incident away from bankruptcy. *g*
Rising food and energy prices are slamming everyone in the bottom tier.
The irony is that if it wasnt for SSDI, unemployement checks and welfare, there would be alot more people in the streets demanding more liberal policies that help the poor and middle class better than the liberal policies that are already in place. Im not against social safety nets and they should be strengthened and not reduced.
We are in a depression both economic (as defined by real statisics not govt BS) and social ( as evidenced by the fact that OWS is more important and growing) Because of social media the Arab Spring has led to the American Fall. Maybe in twenty years U.S. history books will have a paragraph about the winter in Valley Forge and another about the winter in Zucotti Park???
This DLC crap has made one party rule a reality and its not a party I want to attend..
But young bank-owning voters are solidly behind the guy!
Obama is probably safe. If the Thugs nominate Romnney (which seems increasingly likely, though you never know), Republican turn-out in the t-party districts will be down. Democratic turn-out is sure to be down. In a scaled-down turn-out election, which is what I think Obama’s people are counting on, the suburbs will still probably vote for Obama and he will win. They are courting the moderate Republican vote, having written off the students and people like us. They will have plenty of banker’s drafts to carry out the propaganda they need to carry it out.
Unless the winner of the Presidential election is not one of or representing the 1% then who wins is moot at this point. Change is coming but not from party politics unless OWS takes over the D party (a happy daydream at this point). Stop caring about O or the R, they don’t have long to go.
OT but are you watching OWSOakland, it’s incredible!
I disagree. A Romney/Rubio ticket will likely defeat an Obama/Biden reelection bid. In any event, I know I will not be voting for Obama. Frankly, I think most Americans would be better off with a Romney Administration, at least in the short term.
I’d say in the short term most people would be worse off, but in the long term since democrats would have to run against Romney’s (or any republican’s) policies we might be better off.
Just had a “mini-reunion for my HS class. We have one every year. We are ALL 60 this year.
There were 32 people there and 3 have lost their jobs in the last two months, 2 educators and 1 county employee. Most of the rest of us are in positions making less than we used to.
I think you an m e have agreed previously that Romney/Rubio is the current “most likely” ticket. I agree, they will defeat Obama in the electoral college, probably by quite a margin, even if the popular vote is somewhat close.
Maybe not. Repub policy coming from a Repub administration would give the Dems something to rally against as opposed to rolling over for Obama’s Repub policies.
And if the Democrats were the good guys whose progressive and liberal policies worked their wonders, I’d agree. In fact, if we lived in such a fantasy world, where Obama would have really fought for real reform and had actually achieved it, he would be hugely popular right now.
But the Democrats are no better than the Republicans and they have no more interest in advancing true progressive or liberal policies than do the Republicans.
With Romney as president, the biggest difference would be a change in rhetoric and a bit more money pumped into the system by the people who pretend to hate Obama and have been hording their money for the last few years.
That extra money in the system would be a short-term benefit for working people.
Anyway, your assertion that there would be a long-term gain, as Democrats would have Republican policies to run against, is ridiculous. We saw this bs game before. Remember all the promises made by Obama and Democrats a few years ago? The American people enthusiastically gave them power at the end of 2006 and 2008. The Democrats then wasted opportunity after opportunity as they served their true masters, the MOTU. Why do you think you can vote for these same Democrats, who don’t really fight Republican policies so much as they work behind the scenes to help advance them, and get a different result in 2016?