President Obama was interviewed on Chicago hip hop station WGCI Tuesday morning, urging young voters to get out to the polls.
In an interview with WGCI's Loni Swain, Obama explained how important Tuesday's election was to him, and how it will effect the lives of young people in Chicago and beyond.
"The truth of the matter is that even though we had 30,000 people come to the [Chicago] rally, there are a lot of folks out there who still haven't got the message that this is a really important election," Obama said. "Making sure that folks have health care when they need it, making sure that young people are able to get college scholarships, all those things that we've worked on so hard for the last couple years are at stake, and the key is going to be everybody turning out to vote."
Obama told Swain that if Republicans gain control of the House and Senate, students could see their Pell Grants reduced by 20 percent, student loans could be cut and the healthcare bill benefitting uninsured youth could be difficult to implement.
"My hope is that I can cooperate with Republicans, but obviously the kinds of compromises that are gonna be made will depend on what Capitol Hill looks like, you know...who's in charge," Obama said. ". . . If we rolled back healthcare reform, for example, that would mean that young people who right now are able to stay on their parent's health insurance until they're 26 years old, they might lose that health insurance.
Throughout the interview, the president's focus on election turnout was clear. As of 2 p.m. Tuesday, the Chicago Tribune reported that Chicago and Cook County are projecting a turnout of about 53 percent. But on the city's South Side, the Tribune reports turnout is down considerably from the presidential election.
From the Tribune:
Tyrone Blanton, a poll worker at the 21st precinct in the 3rd Ward, said 308 of the 341 registered voters turned out during the election that put President Barack Obama in office. But today, as of 1 p.m., only 67 people had cast ballots.
Obama stressed that there would be "concrete results" if supporters fail to vote in Tuesday's election.
"I need everybody to turn out to the polls today," Obama repeated. "You can make a difference today, and how well I'm able to move my agenda forward over the next couple of years is gonna depend in part on folks back home having my back."
LISTEN to the entire interview here.