Young Voters' Approval Of Obama Historically High -- Can Dems Keep Them?

[ProSense]

Young Voters' Approval Of Obama Historically High -- Can Dems Keep Them?

Eric Kleefeld

A new analysis from Gallup finds that as President Obama's ratings have gone up and down, one constant has remained: A sharply disproportionate level of support among younger voters, with an age gap that simply didn't happen with his two predecessors.

Gallup's data was compiled by analyzing the average approval ratings for Bill Clinton and George W. Bush during their administrations, and comparing these numbers to the Obama administration so far. The numbers were broken down among four age groups: 18-29, 30-49, 50-64, and 65+.

Bill Clinton's numbers actually showed no great variation, with a high of 57% among the 18-29 group, and 54% among the 50-64 cohort. George W. Bush showed some slight variation, with a low of 46% among the 18-29 group and a high of 52% with the 30-49 group.

Among Obama, though, the high is 66% among the 18-29 group, with a low of 51% among the 65+ group.



"We've always known that young people are more likely to identify as Democrats than Republicans, and that's been the case for while," Gallup managing editor Jeffrey M. Jones explained to TPMDC. "But you would expect to see more variation for the prior two presidents among the age groups than you do. So the relationship of being younger has been more Democratic, but we haven't had this variation for past presidents."

more

[Jennicut]

1. 30 to 49 year olds also approved at an average of 57%.

I am 34. I can honestly say that among 18 to 34 year olds he is well liked still. My 28 year old best friend just loves him and so do many of my other friends. I would say growing up with Bush as President had a huge effect on the twenty somethings.

[Go2Peace]

11. This OP is pure SPIN. Look at my post below. Support is DROPPING significantly

In the same Gallop page is an image with support over time amongst these demographics and it is nothing to be excited about.

http://www.gallup.com/poll/126329/Age-Groups-Differ-Obama-Bush-Clinton.aspx

[Jennicut]

15. Support was astronomical before and it is a bad economy.

The fact that he is where he is at among younger people during this time period is good. Reagan's approval #'s were abysmal among all ages when the economy was taking during the early part of his presidency. And I already knew it was an average.
Amongst my friends, he is still well liked. 60% approval among young people is bad?

[Go2Peace]

16. No comment on why support amongst the young has dropped by 20%?

Obama is well liked, but if you start talking about his policies you get different feedback, even amongst more enthusiastic supporters (well except this site, where talking points are the purpose of some).

I have a lot of long time Democratic friends who are frustrated by his policies.

But your and my opinion do not mean much as we have different friends and it is subjective. However, what is not subjective is that support for Obama is dropping, and also the percentage of Democratic registered voters is dropping.

Let me ask this. I know it feels good and you want everyone to be as enthusiastic as you are. But what good does it do the Democratic party to ignore serious signs that voters feel disenfranchised? Liberals are supposed to be the well reasoned ones, yet we put our heads in the sand because we like a representative. That just isn't good reasoning.

[denimgirly]

2. Very Surprised it is that High -- Not sure youngins' are keeping up with the facts

Unless the young people were remarkably low for GWB and Clinton this might be an indication that younger people may not be keeping up with factual news (outside the controlled and polished msm). Honestly, if most had been keeping up with the facts regarding democrats and Obama i doubt it would be as high....not to be a downer but facts dont lie. Anyone who reads about the sellout to big insurers or big banks, or (list any big money business here) cant possibly be happy with Obama.

[impik]

3. Oh, this must kill you, ah?

[Arkana]

4. It's just killing you that the young folks who helped put him in office

still like him, isn't it?

[Cha]

5. Oh, you mean those freakin' "facts" that the corporatemediaWhores

put out ..or maybe you mean the screaming "facts" from the leftybloggers who need attention and donations?

The real facts are quite brilliant and maybe the young people know what a lot of us know..that President Obama is in there working for us every single day.

"Many of his detractors, and even some of his wavering supporters, will be surprised to learn that in his first year, Barack Obama has already fulfilled at least 79 campaign promises. This is one of the most accomplished records of any first year in office, and it has come with considerable difficulty in working with and around a Congress fraught with obstructionism and distracted by its own mythology regarding specific points of policy, and in the face of the most uniform and inflexible opposition any president in recent decades has faced."

"The 79 promises kept, as fact-checked and reported by PolitiFact.com, the Pulitzer Prize-winning fact-checking service of the St. Petersburg Times, are as follows:

■No. 6: Create an Advanced Manufacturing Fund to invest in peer-reviewed manufacturing processes
■No. 15: Create a foreclosure prevention fund for homeowners
■No. 16: Increase minority access to capital
■No. 33: Establish a credit card bill of rights
■No. 36: Expand loan programs for small businesses
■No. 40: Extend and index the 2007 Alternative Minimum Tax patch
■No. 50: Expand the Senior Corps volunteer program
■No. 58: Expand eligibility for State Children’s Health Insurance Fund (SCHIP)
■No. 76: Expand funding to train primary care providers and public health practitioners
■No. 77: Increase funding to expand community based prevention programs
■No. 88: Sign the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
■No. 110: Assure that the Veterans Administration budget is prepared as ‘must-pass’ legislation
■No. 119: Appoint a special adviser to the president on violence against women
■No. 125: Direct military leaders to end war in Iraq
■No. 132: No permanent bases in Iraq
■No. 134: Send two additional brigades to Afghanistan
■No. 154: Strengthen and expand military exchange programs with other countries
■No. 167: Make U.S. military aid to Pakistan conditional on anti-terror efforts
■No. 174: Give a speech at a major Islamic forum in the first 100 days of his administration
■No. 182: Allocate Homeland Security funding according to risk
■No. 184: Create a real National Infrastructure Protection Plan
■No. 200: Appoint a White House Coordinator for Nuclear Security
■No. 208: Improve relations with Turkey, and its relations with Iraqi Kurds
■No. 212: Launch an international Add Value to Agriculture Initiative (AVTA)
■No. 215: Create a rapid response fund for emerging democracies
■No. 222: Grant Americans unrestricted rights to visit family and send money to Cuba
■No. 224: Restore funding for the Byrne Justice Assistance Grant (Byrne/JAG) program
■No. 225: Establish an Energy Partnership for the Americas
■No. 239: Release presidential records
■No. 241: Require new hires to sign a form affirming their hiring was not due to political affiliation or contributions.
■No. 247: Recruit math and science degree graduates to the teaching profession
■No. 266: Encourage water-conservation efforts in the West
■No. 269: Increase funding for national parks and forests
■No. 270: Increase funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund
■No. 272: Encourage farmers to use more renewable energy and be more energy efficient
■No. 277: Pursue a wildfire prevention and management plan
■No. 278: Remove more brush, small trees and vegetation that fuel wildfires
■No. 284: Expand access to places to hunt and fish
■No. 290: Push for enactment of Matthew Shepard Act, which expands hate crime law to include sexual orientation and other factors
■No. 300: Reform mandatory minimum sentences
■No. 307: Create a White House Office on Urban Policy
■No. 325: Create an artist corps for schools
■No. 326: Champion the importance of arts education
■No. 327: Support increased funding for the NEA
■No. 332: Add another Space Shuttle flight
■No. 334: Use the private sector to improve spaceflight
■No. 336: Partner to enhance the potential of the International Space Station
■No. 337: Use the International Space Station for fundamental biological and physical research
■No. 338: Explore whether International Space Station can operate after 2016
■No. 342: Work toward deploying a global climate change research and monitoring system
■No. 345: Enhance earth mapping
■No. 346: Appoint an assistant to the president for science and technology policy
■No. 356: Establish special crime programs for the New Orleans area
■No. 359: Rebuild schools in New Orleans
■No. 371: Fund a major expansion of AmeriCorps
■No. 380: Bolster the military’s ability to speak different languages
■No. 391: Appoint the nation’s first Chief Technology Officer
■No. 394: Provide grants to early-career researchers
■No. 411: Work to overturn Ledbetter vs. Goodyear
■No. 420: Create a national declassification center
■No. 421: Appoint an American Indian policy adviser
■No. 427: Ban lobbyist gifts to executive employees
■No. 435: Create new criminal penalties for mortgage fraud
■No. 452: Weatherize 1 million homes per year
■No. 458: Invest in all types of alternative energy
■No. 459: Enact tax credit for consumers for plug-in hybrid cars
■No. 460: Ask people and businesses to conserve electricity
■No. 475: Require states to provide incentives for utilities to reduce energy consumption
■No. 480: Unprecedented expansion of funding for regional high-speed rail
■No. 483: Invest in public transportation
■No. 484: Equalize tax breaks for driving and public transit
■No. 494: Share enviromental technology with other countries
■No. 498: Provide grants to encourage energy-efficient building codes
■No. 500: Increase funding for the Environmental Protection Agency
■No. 502: Get his daughters a puppy
■No. 503: Appoint at least one Republican to the cabinet
■No. 506: Raise the small business investment expensing limit to $250,000 through the end of 2009
■No. 507: Extend unemployment insurance benefits and temporarily suspend taxes on these benefits
■No. 513: Reverse restrictions on stem cell research
Most of these items are complex campaign pledges that Pres. Obama has been able to follow through on. Some just show he’s a man who follows through on his word, something the media should take more note of. But PolitiFact’s research shows a long list of serious political accomplishments, many of historic import, yet the mainstream media continues to report on the delays seen in enacting the most complex and comprehensive reforms undertaken in a generation, many of which —like healthcare reform, energy policy reform, terror prosecutions and financial regulatory reform— are actually moving forward at a historically meaningful pace, and will likely be achieved in the first half of 2010.

<more>
http://www.casavaria.com/cafesentido/2010/01/05/5658/20... /

[FrenchieCat]

9. I think that it is the old ones that seem to be rigid and set in their ways,

and who tend to get their news only for one or two sources.
I consider them the ones guilty of not keeping up with the facts.

[Go2Peace]

10. No, it's that the older ones know history and quasi-democrat ideology is lacking

But you are right in that this is the first President that appealed to the younger generations in a long time. Unfortunately younger voters have grown up in the age of propaganda and have never seen a Middle class America. But they are waking up to the seduction visited upon them.

But the representation in the OP is disingenious. Look at this (from the same article). Does this trend make you feel like this is good news?

Support amongst the young is dropping. So this OP is pure SPIN

[FrenchieCat]

13. Thank goodness each generation is more tolerant and geared toward

progress than the last generation. It is part of what constitutes hope,
and why as a nation, there are many areas in which we have progressed,
generation to generation.

[Number23]

14. Beautifully, beautifully said.

:thumbsup:

[Go2Peace]

17. I don't believe that for a moment. In some ways we are more tolerant

but in other ways the younger generations are more fundamentalist and intolerant. Granted, my generation has also become less tolerant and more fundamentalist as they have aged. And progress? We are just fighting not to regress further, I don't think anyone can claim we are progressing other than in the sphere of tolerance of differences in color and sexual orientation, in most other ways we have regressed. Just look at a woman's right to choose?

[Bluenorthwest]

6. Unless that approval translates into votes placed for Democrats

it is nothing but window dressing. If the feeling does not become action, it will not do us any good where it counts. That is all that matters. Did they turn out and vote in MA, these passionate young things? Or did they have a previous, more important engagement that day?

[AllentownJake]

7. Does Gallup have the President at 56-57% approval?

Because according to that chart, that is where he should be unless 10-18 year olds hate him and were surveyed.

[high density]

8. I like Obama quite a bit

I hate this congress that refuses to do anything.

[angelicwoman]

12. That's an average of all polls conducted from Jan. '09 to Feb. 2010

Does anyone how Obama stands among the young in polls conducted in recent days only?