Hillary Faces Uphill Climb With Young Voters

Durham, N.H. -- Hillary Clinton had planned to address two of her liabilities today -- her dismal level of support among young, well-educated voters, and her image of impermeability -- by holding a Q&A session with University of New Hampshire students, but her campaign entourage was, uncharacteristically, two hours late, sorely testing the patience of the 20 or so students waiting for her.

When Clinton did finally pull into the parking lot in front of the Bagelry here, Clinton told the remaining assembled students: "I particularly want to give young voters a chance to ask the questions they have," noting that the debate tonight is sponsored by Facebook, the networking site heavily used by students.

Clinton sought to portray her campaign as a vehicle for idealism, offering young voters the chance to participate in a crusade similar to the one Barack Obama now is seen as leading: "One of the reasons I am running for president is I love this country and I don't want to see it sort of slip away from us," she said. Clinton described in detail her efforts helping to negotiate a peace agreement in Northern Ireland and her work encouraging provision of services for refugees in Macedonia.

Over and over again, the former First Lady returned to the theme of youth.

In a critique of the Bush administration's tax and spending policies, Clinton warned the gathering that "the way the Bush policies will play out, this [the deficit and national debt] is all going to be dumped on you, the young generation."

Similarly, she told the students -- far outnumbered by members of the press and her staff -- that "if you look at the income data, this is the first time young people are on a trend to not do as well as their parents....we've got to get the economy producing jobs again."

With only three days to go before the New Hampshire primary, Clinton faces an uphill struggle, with long odds against making substantial inroads into Obama's support among young voters, if the Iowa results are any guide. As an indicator of the generational divide at work, Obama got his degree from Harvard Law School in 1991; Clinton graduated from Yale Law School in 1973.

Network entrance polls from the January 3 Iowa caucuses showed Barack Obama crushing Clinton by a 5 to 1 margin, 57-11, among voters aged 17 to 29, a development that has become particularly damaging this year, with Iowa demonstrating that young voters are turning out in far higher percentages than in past contests.

Comments

[EinChicago]

Are we really going down this path again? For the past 2 election cycles, the Dems have made a big deal about teh youth vote. The youth vote has factored into teh easy to skew primaries and put up teh worng cnadidate and tehn teh youth vote, when faced with voting In november fails to materialize.

It'll be the same this time if we make teh mistake of putting up Hussein Osama. He'll energize teh conservative base while failing to deliver the moderates who won't vote for him, and the youth vote will, as always fail to materialize.

[cloudy]

How come you don't see these analyses particularly pursued in general from OBAMA's point of view -- as to what are HIS electoral strengths and weaknesses and how can, in particular, he increase his appeal among groups that seem not to be voting for him now?

I ask this not as someone whining about the supposedly pro-Obama biased media, but to address a much subtler sort of bias, which distorts the analysis in ways that I do not think benefit Obama.

Another concern I have (about which I've posted at length elsewhere) is the front-loading of the primaries. A strong insurgent candidate, who is particularly strong as a candidate where the public pays greater attention, could even capture Iowa, NH, and S Carolina, but then be unable to make enough impression on voters in 24 states in a few weeks to really even break even on Tsunami Tuesday (TT). I think the Democratic Party does itself a great disservice by so structuring the primaries to benefit the already-known quantity.

[godlessclif]

Naomi Klein reveals why Logos are evil from the Swooshtika of Nike to the Golden Arches of McDonalds. Obama is the only candidate with a Logo.

If a slick logo can make you buy crappy sneakers amde with slave labor or greaseburgers that actually kill you.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0390521/
Supersize me, a documantary on the health effects of eating at McDonalds

http://www.albionmonitor.com/9606a/nikelabor.html
Nike pays $2.17 A DAY, not an hour in Jakarta.
Child Labor.

[godlessclif]

The youth vote has no brain. They won't respond to logic.

Obama has captured it with snazzy logos and videos.

http://www.underconsideration.com/speakup/archives/obama_sutton.jpg

[DCIndependents]

Independents Day for Hillary & Friends -
Tuesday, January 8th, will be Independents Day for Hillary Clinton. Hillary Clinton's campaign of inevitability has collided with historical American reality. American voters are instinctively annoyed by pretentious politicians in general, and especially those with a sense of political entitlement. When spin with the wind arrogance is added to the mix, only losing integrity becomes inevitable.

Sure, America's electorate is sometimes fickle, blind and gullible. However, we're never genuinely stupid. Since the founding of our country, inside every American is an Independent activist. Having discovered that Democrats and Republicans are the left and right wings of a rotting bird, the proponents of special interest status quo governance will face future electoral cremations.

Despite some early dysfunction and distractions, being an Independent voter has increasingly become this century's best option in national and local politics. Truly democratic common sense governance focused on "We the People" is the core belief of this reemerging political force rooted in our nation's creation. Autocratic bureaucracies, corporate manipulation, and special interest agendas are the poisons being purged by this century's patriots of democracy.

Hillary Rodham Clinton, including several of her Republican contemporaries, has become the iconic political dinosaur trying to function in a world that is rapidly rendering her species extinct. Even the hype of being a woman presidential candidate holds little credibility compared to being the best choice for a more discerning Independent electorate.

Notwithstanding popular perception, Independent voters network, organize, strategize, and are expanding. New Hampshire, like Iowa, is the tolling bell signaling Senator Clinton's attention that politics and politricks as usual died when she tried to politically strangle Independent voters in America's first capital, New York City. New Hampshire's Independents are a major voting bloc. Despite attempts to revise her rhetoric, the inevitability of Mrs. Clinton presiding in the new capital decisively ends on a unusually warm winter's day in the "Granite State."

Dennis Moore
Chairperson,
District of Columbia Independents for Citizen Control (DCICC)
http://www.DCIndependents.org
DCIndependents.orgnts.org

[DCIndependents]

Hillary Clinton's Assault On New York Independents -
New Hampshire Independents will also discover and reassess the little-known ugly truth about Hillary Clinton. The U.S. Senator for New York is no genuine friend of democracy, inclusion, and Independents.

Ask members of the New York City Independence Party, Independence Party of New York (IPNY), the Committee for a Unified Independent Party (CUIP), and especially 1992 presidential candidate and Independent activist Lenora Fulani. In 2005, Clinton engineered a bogus bigot-bating campaign to have Dr. Fulani eliminated as an executive member of the IPNY State Executive Committee. Though never substantially confirmed or affirmed by anyone, especially Fulani's many Jewish friends and supporters, Senator Clinton hyped the claim that the New York City Independent activist was an anti-Semite to the state's Jewish voters. Fulani's longtime political mentor and CUIP's veteran political strategist Fred Newman, also Jewish, knew better.

Senator Clinton forced IPNY chairman Frank MacKay and vice chairman Thomas Connolly to dump Dr. Fulani from her executive post before the state IPNY organization was allowed to endorse Clinton's senatorial campaign. The demonization and attempted termination of Fulani, including the effort to disband New York City's five-county Independent organizations, effectively was designed to disenfranchise the thousands of very active and mostly Black New York City Independents Fulani represents. Divide, conquer, and win election was Mrs. Clinton's mission.

New York State's Supreme Court ruled in Dr. Fulani's favor, affirming New York City Independents' right to fair and equal representation as voters within the state. New York State Supreme Court Judge Emily Jane Goodman stated, "While the Court is not going to speculate on the motive for bringing this Petition now...it appears to be more political than philosophical."

History and facts, no matter how hidden from present day campaigns, always focus avid and aware voters. New York City's Independents remember all too well. The once likeable First Lady Clinton of the 1990s is justifiably not a truly democratic, likeable or electable 2008 presidential candidate.

Dennis Moore
Chairperson,
District of Columbia Independents for Citizen Control (DCICC)
http://www.DCIndependents.org
DCIndependents.orgnts.org

[Maddlizz]

I will never vote for con man, happy talk, lite weight Obama. The Democrates never learn they pick weak loser candidates like Gore, Kerry, now Obama. I hope Romney wins the Republican nomination. Romney is the king of negative and he will tear Obama apart. Eight more years of Republican rule. How disgusting.

[Thad]

She's spent years dumping on the youth vote and now she's desperately scrambling to get it.

[AxelDC]

You don't call young adults lazy and state that they "don't know the value of a dollar" and then expect them to vote for you. Insulting your base is always a recipe for electoral failure.

[dgscol]

with a draft and an onging war - youth is behind the Left. In this instance the mood is different - Hillary is giving away their jobs, and that makes students nervous. Globalization is ruining their lives. We do not want to have to move to China to work, and we need to have an industrial base. What could be clearer than that?

Wht Hillary is searching for is what Obama has found - something nondescript like "change" which could mean anything.

[watchingthings]

Why would any kid want to be friends with a "clinton" kid?Land property does not show Clinton is bad.....people just know that Clinton is bad. at this time...very bad.

[DANIELLECLARKE]

UPDATE: the 85 yr old woman i caregive wants to go to NH so tomorrow i drive her 6 hours from Pa to manchester NH to support Obama

Her daughter said tonight at helens birthday party if she wants to go its ok.

she is a special woman too. She has worked many yrs helping many women in the medical field and has papers published for her research in helping children who's mother did drugs to determine the fate of the babies.

85 female from Pa and going to NH to support Obama yeaaaaaaaaa Helen

[CGrace]

Too little, too late. One of Obama's first staffers was the co-founder of Facebook, Chris Hughes. That right there told me that this would work. With Obama's age and charisma, his character and honesty, that's why he appeals to so many people, especially the young.

[samuraijack]

The kids in the photograph are like "Who is this lady? Does she work for Obama? Can she get me an Obama autograph?"

[Quotato]

Off course she is going to "fall flat"

The youth see her as an old lady with high heels.