October 15th, 2009
By Rachel Hoff

The love affair between Barack Obama and young Americans may be on the rocks. Recently released figures from the Department of Labor reveal staggeringly high joblessness numbers among America’s youth. Indeed, 53.4 percent of young Americans are without a job – a post-World War II high.

With over half of 16-24 year olds jobless, even after stimulus package after stimulus package supposedly meant to create jobs, one has to wonder how Barack Obama’s approval ratings are doing among his strongest supporters. Unsurprisingly, the answer is “worse.” According to Gallup, approval of President Obama among young adults aged 18 to 29 fell 11 points this summer. While the President’s approval ratings have fallen recently among all age groups, this drop was the sharpest decline of any age demographic.

And yet, President Obama still gets his strongest support from young Americans, with 60 percent of people under 30 still approving of the job he is doing. But the recent economic and public opinion trends provide a huge opportunity for Republicans to make up some ground with the youngest generation of voters. The GOP’s challenge, however, is to stay on message as they sweet talk young Americans.

For the past two years, the economy and jobs have consistently been at the top of young voters’ list of most important issues. Even before this financial crisis began, when unemployment rates were not so alarmingly high, young Americans ranked “jobs and the economy” as their number one issue. In November 2007, 18 percent of 18-29 year olds put it at the top of their list; by September 2008, that number climbed to 29 percent. And the economy certainly tops the priority list now, with skyrocketing unemployment and America’s youngest workers facing weeks, months, and even years of joblessness that could have detrimental effects on their long-term earning potential. There are 1.1 million job seekers that are new to the workforce and have not found a job.

A survey by the Young Republican National Federation at the beginning of this year showed that 23 percent of Young Republicans wanted their party to focus on job creation and the economy. Only 6 percent of these young party activists thought the GOP should focus on social issues. (And social conservatives were well represented in the survey.) For young voters of all social stripes, it seems it is a matter of priorities.

Recession or no recession, young Americans care most about jobs. And if Republicans take advantage of this opportunity to talk competently and confidently about the economy, the party has a chance to break young America’s love affair with Obama and win these voters back to the GOP.

As a candidate, Barack Obama captured the hearts, minds, and votes of the youngest Americans, in no small part simply by talking to them. In many ways, President Obama has stopped talking to young people, largely leaving them out of important conversations likehealthcare reform as he focuses on senior citizens. And we all know that communication is the key to any healthy relationship. It’s time for the GOP to start communicating with young voters – and it is abundantly clear what these voters want to talk about.

Posted at: New Majority

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