With a little more than one year left until the 2012 presidential election, Obama’s campaign is once again focusing on the youth of America.
“This election is far too important and we know that you know that,” National Youth Vote Director Valeisha Butterfield-Jones said in a news conference.
To gain the attention of young voters, the Obama administration has launched the Greater Together campaign.
“There’s no doubt that young people were a key to our victory in 2008 that helped to elect Barack Obama president to the United States,” Obama for America Campaign Manager Jim Messina said. “I know that the worst thing we can do is take support for granted and we’re absolutely not. We’re going to fight and work for every single vote and that’s why we’re kicking off Greater Together.”
The program will attract young voters using what the administration believes is already a key focus in their lives — the Internet. The program plans to gain publicity through its Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr pages and by hosting live online national student summits, the first of which will be Nov. 2.
“Greater Together was designed for the campaign to talk with and not to young people,” Butterfield-Jones said. “We plan to meet young adults where they are, which is mostly online.”
Although the administration is focusing much of its attention on acquiring the youth vote, some students said they were already planning to vote for Obama.
“I voted for him last time a few years ago, so it’s a high probability I’d vote for him again just to stick with the same person,” senior Kayla Wade said.
Freshman Kamilah Jones will most likely vote for Obama based on his policies.
“I like his healthcare policy, his budget act reform,” she said. “I like that he’s trying.”
Jones approves of the Greater Together program and believes campaigning for the young vote is a necessary strategy for the Obama administration.
“It’s (the young vote) becoming more prominent,” she said. “If you look at the graph, the majority is the older vote, but the youth vote is at least rising.”
In fact, in the 2008 election, more youth voted than ever before, and the Obama administration took note of that trend.
“They shot up records at the ballot box and crushed the idea that young people were empathetic and not typically engaged,” Messina said. “Here we are four years later, and it’s time to prove the naysayers wrong once again.”
Obama visiting college campuses over the next year to gain the vote of young and new voters is part of the campaign.
“Believe me, you will see the president across the country campaigning on campuses,” Messina said. “Greater Together recognizes the control of your generation and the influence they will have on Nov. 6, 2012.”
Greater Together hopes to gain youth votes by educating students on college campuses and encouraging them to vote for their futures.
“It’s a big responsibility to get involved in the political process,” Messina said. “A lot of (students) are focusing on these issues for the first time, so we look forward to doing this together and becoming part of the dialogue.”
