Senator McCain, no doubt to the annoyance of Barack Obama and Howard Dean, has made a firm commitment to reach out to demographic blocs traditionally more associated with Democrats, Hispanics and African Americans among them. His willingness to address one such bloc, young voters, through non-traditional mediums and venues seems to be making a dent. Interestingly, McQ at Q and O thinks Obama is slipping among this demographic (perhaps, his most important).
A demographic that Obama is counting on to help make the difference in November may be slipping away… Expectations among youth who tend to be much more idealistic than older voters, are easily crushed.
Indeed: Obama of late has been looking every inch a standard politician and seems to have abandoned the “new politics” the old Obama used to espouse. However, I think it’s also worth noting that in my estimation, Obama’s support for hundreds of billions of dollars in new spending over the course of his first term alone and tax increases aren’t helping him either, given younger voters’ interest in “pocket-book issues” this election.
In the end, I’m betting that John McCain’s record of combating wasteful spending, corruption, and inefficiency at all levels of government, combined with his commitment to low taxes and pursuing a comprehensive, “all of the above” energy plan will have stronger than expected appeal to America’s youth. Certainly, there’s been evidence before in this campaign of younger voters souring on Obama.
**Cross posted from official RNC blog. To see originial, click here.**
