GOP Candidates Unpopular Among Young Voters

GOP fails to capture the youth like Democrats have in the past

When it comes to the youth vote, Ron Paul, Rick Santorum, and Mitt Romney are tied at a dismal figure.

According to a report by The Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning & Engagement (CIRCLE), only 5% of youth voters participated in the Super Tuesday contests. The findings do not suggest, however, that youth voters are always absent at the polls during the primary season. CIRCLE notes, “By this time in the 2008 primary campaign, Barack Obama had drawn more than six times as many youth votes as any of the Republican 2012 candidates, with about 1,365,000 youth votes.”

These results could be promising for the Obama campaign, especially when it comes to courting young people, whom experts call the “Millennial Generation.” Millennials are between the ages of 18 and 32. Authors Mike Hais and Morley Winograd, who recently published Millennial Momentum: How A New Generation is Remaking America, see a lot of potential in this generation. Their research has shown that Millennials are heavily invested in the civic process, believe in government institutions, and are more open to socially progressive ideas. On top of those findings, this generation is the face of a new, diverse America. During an interview several months ago, the authors said, “Demographically, Millennials are the largest and most diverse generation in American history. There are now about 95 million Millennials, 10 million more than Baby Boomers and twice as many as Generation X. Forty percent of Millennials are non-white—African-American, Asian, Hispanic, and people of mixed race.”

But can President Obama count on Millennials to vote for him in 2012, like they did in 2008? Hais said it’s not about partisanship for both the Democrats and Obama but their voter turnout.

“Most surveys indicate that overall Millennials are still supporting Obama over his potential Republican opponents by about the same 2:1 margin (approximately 62% to 35%) that they voted for him against McCain in 2008. White Millennials (who comprise about 60-65% of voting age Millennials) are about evenly divided between Obama and the Republicans. Among African-American Millennials, it's 90%-95% Obama. Among Hispanic and Asian Millennials it's about 65%-70% for Obama against his GOP opposition,” Hais added.

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So, the question remains: will Millennials, who still appear to support Obama over a Republican contender, stay away from the voting booths on Election Day as well?